


Mirrored in Our Alien Fathers

by C0rrUpt3dSp1r1t



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio), Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Bi Vanya, Celestial Intervention Agency - Freeform, Dark Five, F/F, F/M, Fiveya???, Number Five | The Boy Gets A Hug, Pre-established Vanya/Sissy, Soft Five, Temps Commission, alternate season 2, implied PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 37,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26090389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C0rrUpt3dSp1r1t/pseuds/C0rrUpt3dSp1r1t
Summary: A job from the timelords prompts the TARDIS team to search for answers to a temporal anomaly. So as Ace and the Doctor depart to a day they saw 11 years ago from the other side of the world, Five gets some help in 1963 from the unlikely duo- and even more.Sometimes a couple extra pairs of hands can help round up your siblings to stop the end of the world- or get in the way.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves & Lila Pitts, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves, Raymond Chestnut/Allison Hargreeves, Seventh Doctor & Ace McShane, Sissy Cooper/Vanya Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves/Ace McShane
Comments: 21
Kudos: 60





	1. Now, 11 Years Later

Ace got up from her bed. The brunette started pacing the room, looking around and then staring off. There were posters on the wall, a messy pile of laundry, half dirty and half clean. Her bed was plain, but ever since she hit a jazz kick there had been tons of memorabilia from it in here. She stepped into the toilet and turned on the tap to the sink. She splashed her face with cold water and looked into the mirror, seeing deep into her soul.

She’d been pondering- thinking of everything that had brought her here. It had been almost 11 years now, she grew up on this spaceship. 16 years old and never well-adjusted, now 27. An adult, able to make her own choices. But that choice was to stay here, make friends, travel, and protect the universe. Her life was always in a state of change. It was odd- all the friends that came and went… Raine, Benny, Hex, Mel… 

Here was their state of change. But for her, the TARDIS was the first place in her entire life with a universal constant. It was a place she could call home, and also living in it a figure that stood with her every step of the way. A friend, a professor, a father. The Doctor was her family. Even despite their past disagreements and her need for air once in a while, her future was bright. She never wanted to leave this place again. She'd rather die out there in space with the Doctor by her side than live a dull life on Earth.

Stepping into the gleaming white halls, she heard chatter, which was odd because at the current time they were the only ones on the ship. As she got closer to the main console room, the lights started dimming. Unlike its usual, it was dark, with the roundels pulsing faint yellow. The only time she’d remembered this happening was when there was something seriously bad going on, but there was no evidence of that- the cloister bell wasn't ringing.

She moved quietly and listened in for a bit. The short man was leaning down over the console, staring at one of the screens, illuminating the far corner of the room.

“Will you protect her? I can’t trust you if you say no. If you can’t live up to your promise, I simply won’t do it. I’m sure the lady president could find someone at the CIA- General. Of course, of course I can do it. But know that not even for a second will I take a compromise…” He glared, his r’s rolling.

The call ended and the screen went black.

Ace approached, intentionally making a larger step. Due to the activity, the lights came back on. He flinched and almost fell over the console. “Ace?!”

“Keeping secrets again, Professor? I thought we got over that years ago. If you can’t trust me I can’t trust you. And what about the CIA? I thought you hated them.” she sighed.

He made a calming gesture before pulling her towards him.

“Remember the conversation we had right before the trip where you had your first encounter with the Daleks?” he asked.

“Yeah. How could I forget?” she wished she could.

* * *

_11 years ago~_

_“November 1963 and you’re taking me to a_ **_school_ ** _?”_

_“Unfinished business Ace, unfinished business…”_

_“But that’s the one place I_ **_DON’T_ ** _want to go…” she groaned. It was a place she was never fond of, and if she hadn't been swept up to another planet, she'd still be attending it now._

_“I know you want to see something shocking Ace, but I’m not taking you to Texas,” he chided._

_“I might not be a history buff, but come on! If you want to teach me stuff, show me an assassination...”_

_“No.”_

* * *

And that was the end of it. She didn't know why he was bringing it up. Quite frankly it was a rather brief conversation of little importance or consequence. It reminded her that she used to be a bit whiny, but that was about it.

"What's the big fuss you're making about it now?" she raised an eyebrow.

“I’m taking you where you wanted to go in 1963. We’re going to watch the Kennedy assassination.”

She scrunched up her face. “But why now? It’s been 11 years…”

He booped her nose playfully and she smiled, but he backed away and straightened his tie and scarf. He flipped several switches and pressed a few buttons before speaking again. Even through the cynical shell she'd built up she still had morbid curiosity and even childish glee. No, she didn't like watching people die. But she did enjoy seeing things firsthand.

“It’s not all going to be fun and games, of course. I’m doing a favor for the Timelords. There’s been massive temporal fluctuations taking place there. Something is trying to alter Earth history. It was only a blip in the vortex that appeared in 2019, but there on the ground it appears that rifts have been appearing by rippling off from one point in Dallas... 7 days before the assassination of JFK.”

Her smile faded. That was why. The Timelords of all people needed his help. Never good.

“It’s going to be bad, isn’t it? If they care then we’re gonna be royally screwed.”

He orbited the console, readying for materialization- poking coordinates, sometimes performing maintenance checks.

“Not necessarily. If they wanted to they could have sent out CIA operatives into the field-" he was inturrupted.

"Those freaks? Who do they think they are getting involved in this?"

"For one, while I actively despise CIA tactics- and _Narvin..._ " he grumbled, "-Saying we don't in some manner do the same thing is rather hypocritical. For two, I believe there’s something personal. Something… interesting. Think of it as a test. Focus on preserving the timeline. Not one of 'my' tests. More like if it were theirs. I'm sure if there's anything up to and including Eldritch horrors we'll be fine. You're perfectly capable, one of the most capable people I've known, so let's put it to use.”

“Alright, Professor. I’ll go get my things. See to it Kennedy gets shot then, eh?”

She stepped out of the console room as the machine began whirring, beeping and groaning. She was suspicious of this whole thing. But also curious. She loved a good mystery. The best parts of the mission type adventures that didn’t involve things exploding had Ace and the Doctor sticking their noses into every crevice. She preferred it when there was a third member on the TARDIS around for these, but she could handle herself.

The door to her room swung shut as she got herself prepared. Nitro-9, the baseball bat. She’d need to stretch. Everything would have to be in order. She’d been involved in major historical events and even a few political assassinations by this point, but this one was different. She’d been on Earth the same day it happened. Other side of the world, but if they weren’t busy ending a Dalek civil war, she’d have gotten to see live news coverage.

It was weird, getting to finally go there after all these years.

The groaning of the engines grew louder and louder, before completely halting with a soft crack. The time rotor stilled. Everything went quiet. They were here. The young woman got back into the console room, wearing her bomber jacket and carrying a huge rucksack.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

He pressed a switch and the internal doors slowly swung open. They stepped out of the artificial light of the TARDIS in the darkness of the real world.


	2. It Wasn't Vanya

Luther wasn’t coming and Diego was lying injured in another room. Elliot was fast asleep on the couch. Five needed help but he couldn’t risk messing up the timeline. Because of this, he was sitting alone with a cup of old coffee and a sandwich, occasionally looking over at some of the machinery that Elliott had wired up. He might finally have a break from this if he could find Vanya. He didn’t expect anything now though, it was just so late.

Then a ton of the devices started beeping, blaring, and whirring. He ran over, spilling the drink and soaking his uniform.

“Ugh- now what have we here?” he looked curiously. It definitely wasn’t what he was looking for, to his dismay, “That can’t be right- everybody’s already gotten here… Shit.”

It was in the back alley. A sudden but undeniable magnetic fluctuation. It was a repeating pattern that made near identical peaks and dips every second, matching some variations of time travel. There was a repetition of sound waves, but it wasn't Vanya. It must be the Handler. 

He got close to a window for a good look. He couldn’t make it out in the darkness, but it seemed rectangular. He readied himself for a spacial jump, but thought better of it.

Even though he didn’t like or trust Lila, he needed somebody to know what he was up to. And from what he could gather, even though she was definitely with the Commission, she was protecting him for some reason. _'Better her than me,_ ' he thought.

Instead of jumping to the alleyway, he sent himself to Elliot’s room, where Diego was being tended to.

“Ugh! Oi! You surprised me. Rude. Kid, leave us alone…” Lila sighed.

Five pointed at Lila and made a beckoning gesture, “Come on, there’s something you need to see. All my siblings are out of the picture, and… I need your help, okay?”

The girl bounced up, surprised that he seemed to finally trust her. She wasn’t letting her guard down, but a smile wasn’t out of the question.

Instead of jumping with her, the schoolboy walked her out of the building and over to the alley, picking up Elliot’s rifle on the way out.

“Woah woah woah, you want me to go that way? Hell no. I’m not going with you into an alleyway with a gun. You think I’m an idiot, you little psycho?”

He would have said yes, but brushed it off, instead pointing at the rectangular thing. His eyes adjusted to the night. He could see it was a blue box with windows.

The girl looked at it skeptically, “What’s a UK Police Box doing in a Texas alley?”

He glared at her, “And uhh... how do you know that?”

She looked totally done with him. “Where the hell do you think I got the accent?” she said sarcastically. Even though she wasn't from this time, she did enough research on England this time in history. It would be horrible if she had no cover story, and she did not want to screw up in front of her mum.

Five approached it slowly, but flinched and reflexively teleported as he saw the doors creaked, starting to open up. This time they both got crept closer. His hand was on the trigger, as two silhouettes could be seen, slowly making themselves clearer. A small man with an umbrella stepped out, followed by a young woman wearing a bomber jacket covered in patches. A few were big enough to be made out. One was of a space shuttle- they definitely weren’t from the time period, must have been 1981 or later. He got even closer. They looked at each other awkwardly.

“It’s going to be another one of those days…” the girl sighed, rolling her eyes like it was just any Tuesday.

“Who the hell are you two?!” Five shouted. Whether agents of Carmichael, or the Handler, or somebody else, he needed to know.

She grimaced, “I could say the same, kid. Professor, I thought you said that this thing was supposed to make people just gloss over it- but they showed up before we even opened the door.”

"I don't know, they shouldn't advanced enough- something is off here," the 'Professor' remarked.

“Do you work for the Commission? I know you’re not from this time period. Answer me," Five said coldly, cocking the gun.

The Doctor glanced over to her backpack, implying he wanted her to pull out the bat. She growled at him dismissively. “I’m not beating up a kid! Even if he’s... weird. Okay he’s really weird and holding a gun, but still. It's not like that part is weird,” she answered.

The Doctor leaned on his umbrella. “What is this… Commission? And no, we’re not working for anyone." He wasn't _lying,_ per se, but definitely bending the truth in this way.

“At least give us your names then. Come on, it can’t be that hard,” Lila asked, as politely as she could.

“I’m the Doctor, this is Ace,” the man said in a surprisingly amicable tone.

Five was unenthused, “The fact you’re using codenames isn’t helping your case, Doc.”

“It's the _Doctor,_ but I’ll tell you more if you explain how you tracked my TARDIS," he bargained.

A sort of silent agreement was formed. Both parties wanted answers, but this was not the time nor the place. And anyway, the boy didn’t want them anywhere near their time machine, whatever kind it may be.

“Alright fine, Lila, up front. We’re going into the shop building. I’ll tail you guys.”

Five disappeared and the newcomers stared at where he’d just been. A veil of blueish energy briefly appeared as it was pushed away and fell back into place.

“Did you see that too?” asked Ace.

“Interesting…” he nodded.

The boy popped back inches behind them, startling the both and blocking them from their mode of escape. He was smirking. Their ears popped as if there had been a sudden rising and falling of pressure. It made them uneasy. He violently pulled the doors shut and marched them forward.

* * *

Looking into the shop from outside the alley, Ace and the Doctor could see that it was an old TV and electronics store. Without explanation, the group was marched up the staircase and told to sit on the couch.

When Lila was about to speak, Five shushed her, “I’m doing the talking here. Remember, trust me when I say this: any questions you may ask may incriminate you and I won’t hesitate-" his tone implied the rest.

“We are time travelers, but not with this ‘commission.’ I came here with Ace because there was a temporal anomaly detected in that alley and that can’t be risked in Dallas, November 1963. The fate of humanity...”

“Ah. Well, I can’t have anybody doing that either. So you better answer my questions, and you better do it quick. You’re looking down the barrel of a gun, and I have slippery fingers.”

The Doctor stared Five down cold and calculating, analyzing every bit of him. The look reminded the boy of himself. An old soul that had seen terrible things. The Doctor thought exactly the same.

The Doctor made a statement, “You’re much older than you look. I know it all too well. It’s the eyes, the mannerisms. The cruelty… and the love that you try so hard to hide.”

“Could you elaborate on being non-commission time travelers?” the boy arched his eyebrow, deflecting the question for the time being.

“I don’t know about your commission, but I know that we aren’t uncommon. I originate from a whole race of time travelers… but not from around here. Ace is human, but I am not. I am one of a ranked group known as the Timelords, from the planet of Gallifrey.”

In the distance they heard Elliot shout, “More aliens! Jackpot baby!” It was like he had selective hearing.

“How the heck did you teleport like that? I didn’t see any gear…No vortex manipulator on the wrist, no neck thing or even an earpiece...” Ace asked.

“It’s a rare ability. Innate in a sense. Second nature now, but I have to do all the calculations in my head. I don’t have a fancy thing on my wrist to do all the work," he scoffed at the idea of the laziness for something so simple to him.

“Fascinating. Is this required to be part of this Commission?” the Doctor responded.

Five shook his head. “Nope. As far as I know I’m the only human who can do it.”

The timelord glanced over Five’s shoulder, seeing the many gadgets and gizmos that under Five's instruction Elliot had jumbled together. Earlier he'd noticed the radio antennas outside on the roof as well, but didn't comment on them.

“ _At least I have an answer to how he found the TARDIS so quickly…” the Doctor whispered._

_“How?” Ace asked back._

_“See that equipment? I’ve only seen that level of advancement in 1963 when we met Professor Jensen. It’s a little less well put together, one of them must have built it from scraps.”_

By this point it was the Doctor asking the questions, and despite his years of training for interrogations, until Lila pointed it out, Five hadn’t even noticed. It had just become a slightly strained conversation. The Doctor was relaxed in his chair and Ace was almost smiling. Her captors were irresponsible and regardless of how hard they tried to intimidate her, she'd been through far worse, physically, emotionally, and psychologically.

“You’re good at talking yourself up and distracting me Doc, but how do I know that you’re telling the truth and not some hired gun or a Commission asshole?”

Ace gave something up and laughed a little. “You really are amateurs. So many people have put me in prisons and at gunpoint, but you didn’t even bother to check my stuff.”

Lila took the rucksack off of Ace, and after almost falling over from the unbalanced weight, she started rummaging through it… rope, a metal baseball bat, a change of clothes and a CD Walkman which she pretended not to recognize. This technology didn't belong, she knew that much. Then she found three unmarked silver cans. They looked like they'd once contained spray-on deodorant of some kind.

“Don’t touch them, they’re highly explosive synthesized nitroglycerin.” the Doctor warned, his accent foreboding.

“My own concoction. Nitro-9, I call them.” Ace smirked.

“Really?” Lila looked impressed.

“Oh, and tap your hand with the bat. But be careful, it was a gift.”

The girl did as was suggested, and felt a strong surge of energy coming off of this. It stung like when she got shocked during a training session. This hurt as much but didn’t really injure her, the voltage it took to get that level of pain had made her black out for an hour and left burn scars. She had the tolerance however, and showed a look of almost appreciation.

Trying to ease tensions Ace said, “If I wanted to hurt you guys I could have easily blown you to bits or bashed your head in or something, but I didn’t. Can’t we start building some trust? We’re all adults here, at least that’s what the Doctor is suggesting.”

To be fair, that was along the lines of what Lila was trying to do with Five. It wasn’t working for her, but she sensed that these two weren’t actually lying. All four of them relaxed a little. Five dropped the gun. If they were all unarmed he’d still be at an advantage. So, he thought up ideas for a truce. Maybe even an alliance, provided they had a mutual interest. Even if he was an alien, what interest was he taking in Earth?

“Alright, ‘Timelord.’ Now what’s your business here?”

“I’m doing a favor for my people. They don’t like people interfering with time, and while I don’t usually follow their rules I expect something in return. Now, about your Commission…”

“The Temps Commission, yes. I’m an ex-member. They ‘fix’ the timeline to fit their version of events to a desired timeline by dispatching assassins. I didn't like doing it, but I was one. I became one to protect my family, but that's all gonna be in vain if my plan fails. I’m trying to stop them because in 2019 they want the world to end.”

“Like the CIA…” the Doctor trailed off.

Both Five and Lila gave a weird look. Ace stuck her tongue out, but waved it off since it was something that this whole thing was already about.

“I’m pretty sure time is outside their usual jurisdiction,” Five joked.

“Not that CIA!" Ace and the Doctor said in unison, with some sarcasm.

"Well, sort of, it's more complex than that," the Doctor trailed off, before saying, "They're an organization that lurks in the shadows. Exempt from the Timelord's laws of non-intervention, not even always held accountable for the laws of time themselves. The Celestial Intervention Agency… It appears that they’re working against your Commission because their ‘desired timeline’ would fray the space-time continuum. We have a common enemy," he said darkly.

Lila didn’t like the look of them, but she tried to disguise it when Five gave that devilish grin. She had to be protecting him… while he was doing _this_.

“Alright Doc, I’ll take all the help I can get,” the boy sighed.

" _Doctor._ "

He put his hand out and the older man shook it. 


	3. Your Stupid Brother

Five put on a pot of coffee. It wasn’t just for him this time, even though he usually drank it all. He had company. Company that understood him. The three of them all sat down at the table that was just barely too small for them, glancing at eachother awkwardly. Lila had gone back to Diego’s room, and they heard occasional moaning emitting from the chambers.

“You didn’t give us your name, did you?” Ace asked.

“I’m Number 5, but you can just call me Five,” the schoolboy said.

“And you said our names didn't sound real…” she snarked.

“So Five, how old are you exactly?” the Doctor asked quizzically.

“58. I made a mistake while trying to time travel with my powers, now I’m back in my 13-year-old body. I want to find a way to fix that, but right now that's on the backburner because _another_ mistake caused my siblings to be stranded and scattered through time. I don’t know exactly how far back, but I’m looking for them,” he seemed very nonchalant about it, but for over a week now he’d been screaming internally.

 _“That’s_ the temporal anomaly we found. While I may look ordinary, I am much, much older than that. My race lives very long lives and we have many faces.”

“Pretty sure I'm 27, but I’ve had trouble keeping track too. Living on a ship all the time doesn't make it easy to count when the time from 1971 is never the same twice. And exactly why are you wearing that school uniform?” her face scrunched up, confused as to why anyone older than a real snobbish teen from a private school would go anywhere in something like that.

“It was the only damn thing that fit,” Five snapped, he didn’t go into specifics though, he couldn’t stop fidgeting.

“The reason I’m looking for my siblings is that they all have powers. We’re not technically siblings, we were born on the same day under miraculous circumstances, adopted and made to be superheroes, but it really emotionally scarred us, the worst for my sister Vanya, or Number 7 as out father so respectfully called us. Who- umm... She blew up the moon... he hesitated. "Don't talk about it to anyone okay? I'll tell you when it's alright. But people can't know."

The duo stared at eachother for a long while before coming to a silent understanding. Well, not entirely. It was silent to outsiders, but over the years, with the Doctor being a Timelord, and the circumstances of Ace's bloodline giving her some subtle anomalies, they had developed a simple telepathic bond and could connect while close together.

“Blew up the moon- wait wait wait... I heard of you guys a couple times when I revisited the 80's and 90's, and even a bit in the 00's. You’re Reginald Hargreeves' kids? Wait a second... Five- I thought you vanished in 2002?” the woman asked.

"Yup, but I came back, my body resetting to how it was when I first went missing. I _hope_ it starts aging, but I don't know, And that’s the reason the apocalypse in 2019 happens, we screw everything up. And if I don’t get them out of _this_ timeline they cause nuclear war.”

Ace and the Doctor made horrified expressions. Ace had developed a hard shell and her features didn't change much if you couldn't identify the subtlety, but the Doctor had a face simply made for expressiveness. This whole body was, frankly. Because of this, it contorted to rather extreme levels.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen…” Ace trailed off.

“No shit. _But…_ You have a time machine. We might be able to get to our own time and do something to be able to fix this. I need to find them all before the Kennedy assassination- and stop Diego from protecting JFK, because by that day things definitely started going wrong. I also need to find dad, he might be able to help avert the one in 2019.”

Five had barely gotten sleep for a week. The last time he got any rest was when he’d been recovering from a shrapnel wound, and waking up from that doesn’t exactly leave one feeling refreshed. He was being fueled by coffee and barely hidden rage. His attitude wasn't great, but he still had that ambition to keep going, push himself into the deep end, for himself or for his family. He always had.

"Just a quick question, if you aren't time agents, why are you working together?" he asked.

Ace coughed, trying to mask what she had to say, "Dad..."

"What'd you say?" he perked up.

"I said... The Professor's basically my dad. He's been around since I was 16. And as you can guess there'd be reasons to start doing it, traveling around and running away that young..." she sighed.

The Doctor nodded sagely, but gave a little smile and booped her nose to cheer Ace up. He enjoyed being called that, even as those moments between them grew scarcer, her not calling him hear endearment 'Professor,' as much as she used to. He was at least glad she got out of the low in her life when she was gone for a while and came back trying to erase the identity she had made for herself. 'McShane' didn't exactly roll off the tongue, and while it connected to her old life before his time in small ways, it also ignored the good she had done as Ace, not as just Dorothy or 'McShane,' or even her stint as 'Time's Vigilante.' none of these pseudonyms or even her real name stuck. She'd been Ace for a long time and neither was expecting that to change again.

Both Ace and the Doctor intrigued Five. Looking at them, he could tell that she could conceivably be a Hargreeves sibling, just with an eccentric mentor who wasn’t horrendous at parenting. Of course she probably didn’t have any form of powers, and he wasn’t human- but he supposed that if an alien was a better father figure than Reginald Hargreeves, Five knew that when he met the man again, he had no excuse, and would have to answer for his action. As a response to this thought, he gave a rough explanation of how they grew up and why they did what they did, as well as that he did plan on risking meeting his adoptive guardian in the past. 

“Come on, I’ll show you my TARDIS,” the Doctor offered, humming to himself a little after the suggestion.

“Not right now. I need to make sure my family is safe first. You’re not leaving though, you get that?” Five eyed him. 

He nodded, staring with those big sad blue eyes. He grimaced. There was definitely something he wasn’t telling Five, but the boy gave the mercy of not asking.

“Ace, you probably want to meet my brother Diego, he’s in the room over here,” sipping his coffee, he sighed.

She followed him, but he flashed through the wall and she hit the door with her face. The woman groaned before pushing the creaky door open. 

_Why does he have to do that? She asked herself._

* * *

Diego was finally waking up, which was nice to know, but he still wasn’t in good enough condition to do much of anything. Lila was by his bedside, cauterizing the wounds he had acquired.

There was a knock at the bedroom door and Five appeared in front of them to open it. Ace stepped through, wanting to assess the situation. Elliot was tied up, but his gag was off. Instead of bothering to shush him, Five just put it back on.

“You didn’t untie him?”

“Was I supposed to?” she asked.

“Doesn’t matter…” he waved it off.

“So he’s trying to prevent the assassination? That’s a bit of a roadblock, isn’t it?” Ace asked.

He looked down at his brother disappointingly, “Well it would be if he had any concept of danger. He got himself shanked in the gut last night.”

She cringed at the thought. In all her time on and a while even before the TARDIS she’d been through the wringer, but she still hated that sensation. Getting stabbed or shot and left to bleed out felt horrific, and she’d almost gotten killed from a number of other unpleasant situations- aside from maybe drowning, which she had developed a phobia of fairly early in her traveling days, she thought these were the worst ways to die.

She gave Diego a look of sympathy, but chastised him, “If you haven’t learned to stop doing stupid shit by now you’ll die. Get a few brain cells, man. Actually pay attention to Five. I may not usually be a major fan of the respecting your elders thing, but I know when to listen to someone who has a clue.”

“Bitch, who are you?” Diego questioned.

“...And I already hate him.”

“That’s understandable,” Five answered, completely deadpan. He shrugged and just kept sipping his coffee.

She put her head in her hands and tried to act tolerant, after all: these kids had been abused, emotionally stunted and all had come to coping with it in their own ways, which had led to the self-destructive tendencies Five mentioned. As a teenager she was much the same as them- underage drinking, starting fights, and even blowing things up to vent her frustrations. 

She still had issues with that a few years on with the Doctor, but even with his ‘for the greater good’ way of thinking, he still cared for her more than anything, and them being able to build up proper trust and the revolving door of friends had all been of great help in her journey of growing up. 

That was exactly what this family needed to do once they got back together. And therapy. _So. Much. Therapy...._ She was still going to make an effort not to judge, but that was going to be hard if they were all going to be like Diego. They were 30 years old and still couldn't deal with themselves. She was 27, 3 years younger than them and had (mostly) moved past her issues.

He heard more from the main room. Spacial jumping there, he found that the sensors were going wild. His energy was high and adrenaline pumped through him with fear or excitement. Electricity shed off of him, making the air static and crackly. He’d found exactly what he was looking for. The coordinates, the sound waves. _Vanya._

Going back into Elliot’s room, he said, “Feel free to lecture him. I’d talk his ear off, but I have places to go. I’m taking the car,” Five chugged the rest of the hot liquid and set the mug down on the bedside table before stepping out of the room.

She continued to follow him out the door and onto the steps. Her jacket was slung over her shoulder as she often had done as a sign she was ready to get up and do something.

“Alone? Nah, I’m going with you. You might not really be a kid but other people don’t know that. Also, eventually if you keep driving yourself places you’ll be noticed and get arrested. I know from experience as 'Miss stole and crashed a truck at 14,” she pointed out.

“Fine, I’m still driving because I know where we’re going, but if things get suspicious we’ll switch. I could use some company.” he shrugged before blinking down to the bottom of the stairs.

“Jeez, tell me when you’re about to do that. It still freaks me out a bit.”

He didn’t apologize. It was who he was. It was like a real child or someone with ADHD not being able to sit still, but to an absurd degree. Well, he could sit still for one person, but he didn’t like to tell people that. Running down the steps, they got to Elliot’s car. Five got behind the wheel and Ace sat in the passenger seat. They were ready, and only one thought in Five’s mind kept repeating over and over, prompting him to start the car as quickly as possible.

_She might be in danger. She might be in danger. She might be in danger..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. Five thinks an alien father figure he knows about is better than one he doesn't. If they find out about that in this fic it'll be a doozy. In general I thought that Ace and Seven's dynamic is a lot like a combination of Five/Reginald and the other kids/younger Five, just it turned out MUCH healthier in the long run even down to the kid joining something bigger than themselves. (BF, book stuff) They see themselves in eachother and I think that could be beautiful.
> 
> Also Five needs a hug, and even though he's not a kid, she's good with them and will definitely see it.


	4. The Ikea WHAT?

Vanya had managed to shake her blond pursuers and had been hiding out amongst the corn for hours. It was almost daybreak and she was crumpled up in a ball, confused and afraid- of both the gunmen following her and herself. What did she do? They retreated- but what really _happened?_ How did she do it? It was plaguing her mind until her thoughts were interrupted. She looked forward, behind her, and all around before she could tell exactly where the noise was coming from. But it wasn't her eyes that told her. Her ears had grown extremely sensitive and it just took time for her brain to process it.

She heard footsteps and crumpling of the stalks and murmurs. Someone was coming.

_“You’re telling me your sister was being attacked in the middle of a corn field?” a woman asked._

_“Yep. Now shut up," a male voice whispered._

_“I’d insult you but that would be ignoring the fact that I’ve worked with much worse people,” Ace snarked._

_“I’d say the same thing...but I think you already know that," Five responded._

The shadows approached slowly. She tried to back away, but the row was broken apart and out stepped two people- a child in a uniform for some kind of prep school, maybe an early teenager, followed by a woman _probably_ around her age. She didn’t know her own, so it was hard to judge, but she seemed to be a similar height and with the same level of wear on her face once she could see the details, so it was a fair enough assumption.

“Hi Vanya,” he smiled earnestly, something he hadn’t done at all since Ace appeared in this time, and something he knew he hadn't done for much longer than that.

“Who are you?” she whimpered.

“I’m your brother.”

“I have a brother?”

“And you can call me Ace.... A-a friend,” the woman said, taking a hold of Vanya’s hand.

“Look, you can either wait for the Ikea mafia to come back here to kill you or you can come with us,” he grimaced.

“Ikea _what now?”_ Ace asked.

“Long story...”

Ace helped Vanya to her feet and guided her along. Vanya was still more than a little shaken, so the woman in the jacket helped her part the corn and get across the field. For Vanya it was an itchy experience. Corn pollen was already causing a number of rashes on her skin, which she had been scratching for hours.

“Why… why are they trying to kill me?” she whispered.

“Because you’re not supposed to be here Vanya,” the boy replied.

“None of you are,” Ace added.

“In Dallas?”

“In 1963,” both answered.

They reached what Vanya thought was the edge of the cornfield, but instead it was a massive crop circle sprawling out from a small crater in the soil. The three stepped onto it, impressed. She remembered being at the center and a loud boom. A shockwave knocked down thousands of stalks.

Vanya was shocked, “Holy shit.”

“Wow… Gordon Bennett.” Ace nodded.

“Pretty wild right?” he paused, “Good to see your powers are still intact,” Five remarked.

“Her powers can do _that?_ ” Ace said, impressed.

“Oh that’s nothing. Small potatoes compared to her full potential. She’s the most powerful member of the Umbrella Academy,” Five slouched as he ran.

“What’s an Umbrella Academy?” Vanya asked, wondering how she’d be in the same class as a teenage boy.

“Not right now you two. There’s only about 500 feet left until we get to the car. Plenty of time for important fate-of-the-world questions when we’re out of here.”

He was right. He kept trying to sprint with that crouching posture until they reached the edge. Elliot’s car was parked frankly rather poorly, the back right wheel still on the road. Pulling the doors open, Ace let Vanya sit in the front with her brother while she sat in the back and got to ask the real burning questions. He started the car and started speeding down the road.

“Why do you run like that?” remarked Ace.

“Like _what?”_ the exasperated boy answered. He was getting tired of this, even if Vanya was involved. He just wanted silence.

“Like a penguin with its arse on fire?” she quipped.

“Just… Just be quiet alright? I’m not playing babysitter to two grown women. Let’s get coffee and something to eat. I haven’t had a proper meal in days.”

They could feel themselves rapidly accelerating in the slightly rickety car. Ace loved fast cars, but Five’s driving was more than enough for her, provided he didn’t run them into a wall. Sitting there in silence it rolled down the motorway as they got closer and closer to the city. They could see intersections and lights up ahead. They’d reached the edge of Dallas. It wasn’t long until the boy parked the car in front of an already bustling diner with several other automobiles in the outside lot. He gestured for them to get out and strutted into the restaurant, casually swinging the door open as if nothing was out of the ordinary, even though _everything_ was. Following, Vanya and Ace saw the confusion in each other’s faces.

Ace pulled Vanya into the building and they both sat at the stools on either side of Five. He ordered a coffee and asked to keep the pot to the annoyance of the waitress.

“I’ll explain the basics to you Vanya, you two order while I drink my coffee. Just get an extra of one of your things, I don’t really care what I end up with.”

“What is it with you and caffeine?” Ace questioned.

“If I didn’t have it I’d have collapsed 4 days ago,” he sipped.

"God's sake, you'd be better off on drugs..." she shot back.

"Nope. They suppress powers. Coffee's all I got. And you should _definitely_ not say that to Klaus."

The bell was nearby and Ace rang it a few times. The waitress came back over with an already exhausted look on her face.

Vanya muttered, “I think I’ll just have a cream cheese bagel?”

Ace saw the special and smiled a little. Various breakfast sandwiches for 20% off. Her favorite.

“I’d like six bacon sandwiches and a coffee.”

“Six?” he raised an eyebrow.

“You said order twice. I’ll pay for it, I’m sure I’ve got some American money in this thing.”

She pulled a velvet drawstring bag out from her pocket. The Doctor commonly entrusted her with it, a sort of wallet for currency from all across time and space: credits, pounds, weird robot bug things, gold, rare minerals, and much more. “Bingo!” she shouted, having found a tied roll with upwards of 50 dollars in notes. She wasn’t sure how many were printed after 1963 though, so she’d just need to slip it under the radar once they’d have to pay the tab.

The sandwiches and bagel got there, and the waitress poured another cup from the pot. Since there were so many, someone in the kitchen had bundled most of them up in paper.

She gave three of them to Five and took a big bite out of one of hers. It was good, thick, greasy bacon, on a nice American biscuit. She didn’t usually get to eat these, so it was a pleasant change of pace from just bread or a bun.

Since the two women were eating, Five finally had a chance to fully explain himself. He took a big breath so he could get this out quick.

“You gonna tell me what the hell’s going on?” Vanya asked, just as if not more confused than she was earlier.

“Well, when you were a baby you were bought by an eccentric billionaire, raised in an elite academy with six other siblings with extraordinary powers. We came back in time to avert the apocalypse that happened in 2019…”

Ace continued, leaning over the counter, “...But time travel is one hell of a shitshow and you got scattered through time by a rift Five opened up- I had something like that happen to me as a kid. Don’t feel bad, it's nobody’s fault. 'Cept maybe where you came from," she licked her lips.

“Wait, your name is Five? The apocalypse?” Vanya was having trouble even eating her plain cream-cheese bagel. There was just too much to take in.

Five looked down sorrowfully. He was worried about her- this could be serious and he didn’t want to hurt her. If she really was an amnesiac, maybe he’d be able to lessen the pain about how the world ended. It wasn’t her fault… not really. And he wouldn’t let the others say otherwise.

“You really don’t remember anything?” he glanced at her from his coffee.

“No, nothing from before a month ago.”

Ace looked down, away from the siblings. She’d seen bad amnesia before. Even if Vanya got all her memories back, she’d never be quite the same. Vanya couldn’t help but remind her of Hex, who she met in a new life completely devoid of her or the Doctor. He came back, but different than before and the old Hex she knew she'd never get back. Ace lost her appetite, but put the sandwiches in a paper bag for later.

“Then what do you remember?” Five asked.

“I landed in like, a back alley- and then got hit by a car. My head was ringing like crazy. I had no idea how I got there, where I came from…” she paused, looking deep into Five’s eyes. “What causes the apocalypse?”

_Well what can I say? If I leave it out somebody else might fill it in later, if I tell her now she’ll run off._

_“_ Asteroid impact… A big kaboom ends everything. Just like the one that killed the dinosaurs except way worse.”

“That’s not true-” Ace blurted.

“What does that even mean?” he asked, hoping Ace wouldn't mention the moon.

“It was actually a spaceship… I asked the Doctor something- uh... personal- and apparently that’s why we don’t have dinosaurs anymore. So no, not quite,” she corrected.

“Well, it’s not exactly my fault I’ve not been asked to assassinate theropods before-” he quipped sarcastically, hiding his relief at her response.

“Assassinate? Spaceship?” this was way too much to take in so Vanya stepped outside.

“Wait- Vanya! First her, then you.” He pointed at a mildly amused Ace before stomping out after his sister. Which left Ace to settle the entire bill and tip. She didn't get American tipping in the slightest and was wracking her brain trying to figure out the total, so she ignored the others for the time being. In the end she just gave up and left twice the billed amount.

 _'Why do I have to do everything myself for it to work at all?'_ Five asked himself as he swung open the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ace can simultaneously be the smartest and dumbest character in Doctor Who, so I knew she'd be trying to one-up Five in some way but always done it at the wrong time. She also likes messing with people, so I got to have a real laugh writing this chapter.


	5. Will it be Her Who Comes Back?

Vanya was leaning outside the diner and she lit a cigarette that Sissy had given her. It was just too much, she just couldn’t grasp it. It was starting to get cloudy and rainy, so somebody inside had turned the lights in the sign back on. She leaned onto the wall next to the door and let out a big puff of tobacco-smelling smoke. She wanted to go back to the farm- home. The farm girl back there had given her the best nights Vanya remembered.

The bell on the glass door jingled and she saw her brother step out, slouching over and making the legs of his navy shorts point back. ‘ _Not again…’_ she thought. Being close up she could tell he was already taller than her, even standing the way he did. 

‘ _You always were the shortest. Little number 7, always last...'_ something in her told herself. It said things like this on occasion, but she could never reach down and grab it again. It was like that voice in her mind was a creature whispering to her from deep in a pit, and rarely anything it said made its way into the light- too far down to get ahold of. Maybe perhaps if she filled the hole with new memories she’d once again be able to take the hand of and pull out whatever made that voice to regain the memories of her old life. But maybe she didn't want that anymore, she couldn't be sure.

“I know you don’t really need me,” Vanya stated, holding the cigarette in her fingers.

“I do, but I haven’t finished. I know this is tough and I want to make sure you’re okay. I care about you,” he said, putting his hand over her shoulder. 

He looked deep into her brown eyes with earnest. Giving her a tiny smile, she saw the birthmarks on his cheek fold into little dimples. The light reflected just right into his, making them sparkle bright green. Seeing them gave her a familiar feeling. She longed to know what it was, but the one thing she did know- was that he wasn’t lying.

“The apocalypse came back with us, Vanya.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, worried.

“In eight days, the world will end in a nuclear doomsday…” he hesitated, “...Different disease, same result.”

She saw a flash. Something deep in her psyche, she knew that it just wasn’t meant to happen, she just _knew_ , “But that can’t be right.”

“I saw it with my own eyes…” he looked down, unable to accept her gaze, “You were there- we all were,” he murmured.

“Shit,” She dropped the cigarette and ground it under her foot before rushing herself back into the diner.

She stood by the wall and leaned over a smaller counter as she dropped a few coins into the restaurant’s payphone. Vanya picked up the receiver before dialing a number. She needed to talk to a friend. She needed to talk to Sissy.

Five came back in and sat next to Ace again, swinging the stool until it faced the counter. His coffee was going cold, revealing that it wasn’t too great to begin with. He’d give her some time. Vanya always came around for him, that's something he knew in more ways than one. He could trust that.

“Need a hug? I know what it's like.” Ace asked.

“No, no…” he lied. He wanted a hug from someone, just not a near stranger (especially one that was extremely greasy,) before asking, “What do you mean, exactly?”

She was all but willing to utter her words of wisdom, “To know someone who doesn’t see you anymore. You care about her a lot, but don’t get your hopes up. I knew someone who became somebody else- even when his family came back, he was never the same. If Vanya does find her memories again, will it be her who comes back?”

That was a punch in the gut. The one person who he’d always been friends with, always trusted, could be gone forever. He lied to stop it from hurting, “I won’t. I won’t get my hopes up. I'll just- I'll just be there for her.” he choked.

Vanya had been on the phone for a while now, and while he did want to give her time, nowadays he just didn’t have patience. He’d had it in the apocalypse, but over just these past weeks, the virtue had long since slipped away. Marching up to her, he pushed the lever that hung up the phone. If she wanted to make another call she’d have to have more change for it to work again. Five took her by the arm.

“What the hell?” she asked him.

“We don’t have time for this.”

“That’s my friend you just hung up on!” she shouted in desperation.

He softly answered, “I’m sorry, but you need to listen to me, but those people from the field are coming after us. They are never going to stop. Do you understand me?”

She nodded. Ace stood up and positioned herself next to Five. The two were almost exactly the same height, not actually towering over Vanya, but it felt like it right now. It was just too much for one farmgirl nanny to handle.

“If we don’t stick together, we’re all in danger. Including people like me who’re trying to help you. I’m trying to help you find the rest of your family.” Ace answered.

“ _We_ need them to stop doomsday. Not just Ace or I, you too. Whoever this person is, they aren’t more important than the end of the world.”

Ace gave him a stern look and shook her head to signal _Nope_ . _You’ll scare her off._

Reading her expression, he changed his tactic to one he’d done before with Allison, “You need to come with us because if the world ends, they die too. If you love them you need to do this. We need to go.”

Ace picked up her stuff and guided Vanya into the car. “I know. I know, Vanya. The Doctor and I will try to help you- maybe get back your memories.”

Vanya raised an eyebrow and followed Ace into the back seat, rather than sitting up front with Five like she had done previously.

“Doctor? I’ve seen a Doctor and he couldn’t do anything,” she answered, shaking her head.

“He’s not just any Doctor. He’s different. I’m _sure_ he can help you. We have experience and know things most wouldn’t. He’s not medical or anything, but he is clever- maybe too much for his own good. Either way he could help way more than anyone in 1963...” she trailed off.

It was just a rainy drive through the rest of Dallas until they got back to the TV shop. Maybe then they’d get some answers. Vanya didn’t expect much, and Ace wanted to know about the friend, but for now Five was satisfied with himself. The rest of the ride was quiet.


	6. Into the Box

The Doctor greeted them happily as the door to the old TV store was pulled open. Ace, Five, and another girl. He ran down the steps and booped Ace’s nose, before shaking hands with the newcomer. Ace went over to find a coat hanger. While her jacket was technically water resistant and was actually quite buoyant, it was covered in expensive or rare embroidered patches, as well as a massive logo on the back, 'Ace' in cursive. It was where she derived the name she chose. If it got mouldy her oldest existing possession would be ruined.

“So you must be Vanya. Your brother Diego had- a lot… to say about you.”

“She wouldn’t know any of it Professor, the poor girl...” Ace saw Diego start coming down the stairs and began rethinking herself to phrase in a more personal, more polite way, whispering, “She went Schofield.”

His eyes widened and his brows furrowed, “Interesting way to phrase it, but that is an obstacle.”

“Do you think you can help her?” she replied.

“We’ll have to see. I am aware however, that unsheltered time travel can have ill effects,” he looked pointedly at Diego, “I may be able to aid her, but I’d need access to the TARDIS,” then glancing over to Five.

Five nodded. He was unsure how secure he felt knowing that they’d be entering a stranger’s time machine, but if he went in with her, it should be alright.

Diego was tossing his knife, flipping it over in his hands. It gleamed, its polished sharpness reflected even from a distance. Vanya didn’t like the look of him and hid herself behind the others grouped around her. The Doctor had earlier made it clear to Diego that he didn’t approve of knives, even though Ace had access to multiple weapons. He pointed at the man with his umbrella and grew defensive.

“If she’s afraid of you there’s reason for me to believe I shouldn’t trust you, or at the very least you must build it. Even more than the fact that you wish to alter history, which I’m afraid won’t do,” his r’s rolled, accentuating his Scottish drawl.

Five jumped to Diego. And pointed up at his nose, “I know that you don’t like what she did, but if you blame her for all of that, I won’t be responding kindly. I could easily get you put back in that asylum. If you’re lucky.”

Diego put the knife away. He liked to pretend he was the bravest of the bunch, and he always thought he was a hero, but he had never expected little Number 5 to scare him- especially after seeing him blackout drunk. He wished he knew Five was bluffing, and he didn’t know the Doctor that well, but if things fell into a fight he’d be against the two strongest members of the Academy as well as Ace, who he already decided against fucking with. Nobody was happy with him, and they’d made that perfectly clear.

“Where’s Lila?” Five asked, always wanting to keep track of her. He zapped back, but not until his own eyes glared daggers.

“She vanished when you were gone. I don’t know where she is, but certainly not here,” he responded.

“Goddammit Diego! If we don’t know where she is, she’s a threat. Even if your little girlfriend isn’t a direct danger to the family, she could run away and tell people our secrets. We’re living in the age of the Red Scare- she might accuse us of being communist spies!”

Ace didn’t have the most pleasant expression. “Is that why you didn’t take us to the states in this time period?”

“One of them, yes…” the Doctor nodded, “I didn’t want to contribute unnecessary risks to our travels.”

“Says the man who accidentally got us stuck in the Colditz castle before…”

He looked away in shame, loosely aware of the troubles she had faced in times when he couldn’t protect her. Humanity was simultaneously a very strong and a very weak race. It fought and won against the many hardships of the universe- and he never wanted to admit it, but the ones who hurt humans the most were other humans.

“Go away, Diego,” Five scowled, “You’ve done enough to get in my way. If you keep being a thorn in my side I suppose I’ll have to make it your problem.”

He retreated up the stairs again and watched the others go back to the door. _What were they doing?_ He didn’t know. He wanted to, but his curiosity got the best of him last night. _‘I’m surprised he hadn’t done it sooner. We’ve all had the urge.’_ He heard Five’s words echoing. And he knew that while Five cared about him, he also knew that Five never made empty threats.

Elliot approached him from behind and rubbed his shoulder, showing his empathy. Diego sighed.

The bell jingled merrily again, signaling their exit.

* * *

The Doctor and Ace stood outside the alleyway. It was just as they had left it. Vanya’s posture became more comfortable, more relaxed. It might have just seemed like a meaningless place, but it was the first place she still remembered. It had a shocking sense of familiarity, even if that sounded funny.

Ace fiddled with her set of keys before the lock clicked and the door swung open. Vanya was skeptical of the size. She absolutely loathed small spaces. They made her feel like a prisoner, even if they were perfectly safe.

“Step in, I swear it gets good,” Ace said, beaming.

Vanya gave a smile, but waited and watched the others. Five was the least hesitant, and he went in first. He smiled, his dimples showing. Then he raised an eyebrow and leaned his face into his left hand, taking a better look for himself.

It smelled mostly sterile, with a whiff of the scents he picked up from Ace and the Doctor. Deep underneath that there were others, but they were so hard to discern. It was like they were fading memories, barely lingering enough to keep themselves alive.

The others fell in after him. It was rather awkward. By the looks of things Vanya had tripped over somebody’s foot, and they tumbled down to the floor in a pile. They were laughing. He hadn’t seen Vanya laugh in a long time. He hoped he’d get to see it again if her memories came back. It was one of few changes he would be okay with happening to her. He didn’t have the heart to really giggle, but he did let out a chuckle or two.

The three got to their feet and started brushing themselves off or getting their clothes back together. Ace had a skirt and it had started riding up a bit, but there wasn’t much dirt on the floor to worry about. It just seemed to be a habit of the Doctor’s, and Vanya was probably paranoid.

Once they were all in order, he was free to make his remarks to the timelord, wandering around, looking at the walls and the ceiling,“Dimensionally transcendental. I’m impressed. I can only sort of experience this when I’m using my spacial jumps. I never get to just walk around in it, at least not more than a couple seconds for me. I had no idea anyone had the tech to do this.”

Five was tempted to touch the controls on the console, which felt achingly familiar. It reminded him of the Commission, but in a sort of good way. On the few days he got to relax and walk around in the offices, he’d usually go to the ISB rooms and watch them operate. Of course, a time-space ship with this much detail in size and complexity was much more technical and advanced than the switchboard, so he kept himself from doing anything rash.

His uniform felt tight, like he needed room to breathe. He was thinking of what Ace had said to him in the diner. He didn’t want to believe it, even if it might be true. If they managed to cure Vanya, would she be the same person knowing what had really happened?

“The infirmary is this way,” the Doctor directed, opening a side door from the control room.

Five and the others followed. Realizing how big it really was, he was glad he didn’t try to jump in this thing. Even if it didn’t rip a hole in the shielding that kept it inside that tiny box, he might end up lost or fused with a wall.

It felt like hours by the time they’d finally got there- and this was only just beginning.


	7. Examination of the Third Kind

The infirmary was small, which made sense. TARDISes were meant to carry six passengers, and the Doctor often only had two or three. It was large compared to an individual exam room at a Doctor’s office, but it was still only about the size of a medium bedroom. There was a large amount of equipment there however, many could be found on Earth, but many others were completely alien.

The Doctor sat Vanya down on the examination table. He grasped her hands as a soothing gesture, letting his sometimes clownish or devious persona fall away. It did indeed help her. For some reason she truly hated medical equipment. Again, like the claustrophobia she had no clue as to why, but she felt like it probably had importance in her past life.

“What do you remember?” he asked.

“Only back to a month ago, and my name. I’m sorry if that isn’t any help”

“Shh, sh, shh. That could be a great help. Five, what are her abilities again?”

He tried to explain it in a technical way, and got a decent result from that. “Sonic amplification and manipulation. It can work in bursts or as a sort of telekinesis, depending on her level of control. It’s really strong.”

“Good. I’m quite familiar with that, as it happens.”

“You are?” Vanya asked.

“Well, not in the sense of a natural ability, but…” he pulled something from his pocket. It was a small silver rod with something red and round at the end.

“What’s that? A cheese grater?” Five joked. Vanya cracked a little smile.

“A sonic screwdriver,” he answered. “Along with the typical types of radiation used, it makes sound waves to help perform scans, amplify communication, activate machinery, and open locks. Obviously not nearly as powerful, but I know the principals and could apply them here, to see if her powers could be used to access her memories..”

“That’s great!” Ace exclaimed. Maybe her cynical outlook would be wrong. She always secretly hoped it would be.

He scanned her with it, creating the rhythmic beeping and whirring noise. He scrunched up his face. “No real injuries of signs of trauma. A couple bruised bones, but nothing I can tell with surface level checks. Ace, open that roundel over there,” he pointed.

She wanted to know more about Vanya, and that couldn’t exactly happen with the state she was in. She didn’t get to make friendships that lasted very often, so she did as she was told. She had to wiggle it a bit to get it out of its crevice, but eventually the round piece of wall covering fell into her lap, exposing a darkness behind the wall filled with metal and wires. Some of the wires pulsed with light in a repeated sequence, from yellow to blue to pink. The Doctor crouched down and detached some of them from little clips, pulling them away from the wall.

“These are the telepathic circuits. I’m going to attach a few of these nodes to your head, is that alright?”

Vanya nodded reluctantly. He sat down by her and she felt the sudden sting of energy as the first node attached to her forehead. It was like the wiring was trying to worm its way into her brain. To be fair, it more or less was.

* * *

There were six nodes in total, and when the final one was placed, Vanya was plunged into the depths of her mind. At least that was what she thought at first. She was floating weightless over a starry backdrop. Memories flooded around her. She saw the future, the past. She was sure they weren’t her memories though, as they flashed she saw them all taking place here. She had connected with the TARDIS.

Different women, different men- but she subconsciously knew that most of those men were one and the same. Two heartbeats rang in her ears, growing louder and louder.

She touched down on something hard. Walking around, she was someone else. She didn’t know who, or why, or how. But her mind followed the movements of her body like a dance. Pulling levers, activating switches- traveling through time.

Seeing the vortex on the viewscreen before her, something in her mind clicked. Time travel. She heard high pitched reverberations that made the floor vibrate, and then...

* * *

_Vanya was a child again. As the veil of darkness lifted, she heard a record playing. Sitting at the foot of a table, an old man at the head, and six other seats filled. She looked to her right to see unfamiliar children. She looked to her left to see Five. There was a disgruntled look on his face._

_He stabbed the table with his butter knife, enough for it to stick into the wood._

_“I want to time travel-” the boy said._

_“NO.” the man replied._

_The ensuing conversation warped and faded, but she saw Five run away. She tried to get up, but the condescending stare from the man at the head-_ her father _, made her reconsider. She tried to eat, but she wasn’t hungry._

_As soon as mealtime finished she sprinted out of the house as fast as she could, as fast as those dressy flats could carry her at least._

_“Five! FIVE!” she screamed, “FIVE! "_ **** _she continued until her throat was sore._

* * *

_Everything went black. Not because she was waking up or passing out, but because it was suddenly dark out. There was a plate with a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich in her hands. She knew it was Five’s favorite and she didn’t want him going hungry._

_Vanya left it on the porch and made sure to keep the lights on so he wouldn't be lost. Would her sole confidant ever return and make her have reason to feel worthwhile again? Or would he be lost forever, making her further drift away from the others? She didn’t remember how long it had been since Five had gone, but she hadn’t quite lost hope yet._

* * *

_It was light again, but getting stormy. Number 7 was in the courtyard. Stood behind other men and a woman-_ **_her siblings,_ ** _she witnessed familiarity. A blue portal crackling with electricity that was almost ten feet across, just like the one she landed from._

_One of them threw a fire extinguisher into the vortex, but it did nothing. Something- someone was coming through. The person started with an old man’s face, but it started flickering with someone much younger._

_Then they fell out._

_Five._

_After 17 years...17 goddamn years, he was back._

* * *

Vanya suddenly awoke from the trance-like state and saw the others huddled around, back in the small, sterile room. They gave concerned looks, but Vanya ignored them as she ripped the cords off of herself haphazardly and pounced on Five for a hug. She was crying, her eyes glowing white.

“I’m so sorry. I can’t lose you again. I-I’m so happy y-you came back.”

“Vanya… Don’t be sorry,” he hugged back, trying to hide his smile and hold back tears.

‘ _She remembered something. She REMEMBERED something!’_ Five thought, relieved. So, so relieved.


	8. Plans for the Future

Five couldn’t hold back his feelings anymore, and it was clear this was one of the happiest moments in his life. Finally reuniting with Vanya- _the_ Vanya, not an emptied out shell doing nothing but numbingly react to the world around her, or a monster born of the Academy's own creation and the will of madmen. The girl he remembered see smile and laugh, if only it was just around him and Ben, maybe Klaus on a good day. Eventually the embrace was broken, and the two sitting around them had a chance to speak, but they never stopped holding hands. They could never stop holding hands. The white in Vanya’s eyes receded and faded back to brown.

The Doctor looked over at the two siblings collapsed on the floor, who were slowly getting back up. There was a receipt type printer on one of the tables and he pressed a button on it, making it send out a large quantity of ticker tape, which he glanced over to. Among the many readings there were reports of inaudible high-frequency vibrations and high energy absorption in Vanya.

He chastised her briefly. “Don’t rip them off again without help....” he paused, “But- It appears that your powers did manifest during the trial. It’s truly a tremendous success, but how much do you know, Vanya?”

She looked at Five again, “I remember you.”

“Nothing else?” the Doctor asked.

“Not much, bits and pieces,” she nodded.

Ace looked up at Vanya, who was now back on the exam table. She was still sitting on the floor next to the open roundel, and the Doctor crouched down again to put the telepathic wiring back where it belonged. They made little clicks as they fell back into place, and eventually they were all back in the wall. Ace pushed the cap back in, putting her full weight on it until it stopped moving, and sighed in relief.

“I need to get out of here, Five,” Vanya said, evidently getting anxious.

“Makes sense,” he gave an indifferent look, “It’s been a wild day.”

“Well, you should be free to go for now, but watch out for her. Ace, could you escort them out? I need to look over these readings again. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Since Ace was somewhat unfamiliar with the further corridors, the light contrast between the different paths changed drastically. She remembered which one they’d first went down though, so they strolled down the brighter one.

It was several minutes by the time they reached the console room again. She flicked a switch on the console marked for the doors and they headed out. Five was so distracted he almost forgot that he didn’t know what the Doctor was doing when they left him behind.

* * *

Stepping into the natural light, the three once again went into the shop. Five blinked in a flash of blue, Ace and Vanya not knowing where he’d gone. Instead of looking for him, they fell into chairs on the shop floor and got cozy. Ace was one of the first people Vanya met that knew about her old life, and Ace wanted to know Vanya. It was only natural for them to try and hit it off, or at least become acquainted. 

Diego had evidently gone back to bed, so once again Five was in his room. He straightened his tie and blazer before tidying up his hair. He poked his sleeping brother and he woke up again.

“Good news. Vanya remembers me,” he smirked.

“Of course she does…” Diego groaned.

Five grabbed Diego’s arm. “Get up, ya idiot. We’ve got work to do. Luther? Dad? Ring any bells?”

Diego dismissed him. “Nope. Nope. Nope. I’m not going to see Luther. You’re going to see Luther. If Lila is against me doing stuff then hell no.”

“Lila isn’t here you idiot! Never mind, I guess you just can’t comprehend simple tasks. Bye, I’m done. And I’m taking Vanya and Ace.”

“Fine!” Diego shouted.

Five stormed off because he couldn’t be bothered with jumping anymore. He had Vanya, but he needed the others on his side, under his supervision. If he didn’t, the timeline _would_ get messy. That was on no uncertain terms. Diego being out of the picture wasn’t all bad, but he did need backup for when things went sour.

He poured a cup of the coffee from last night and drank it all in one go. He didn’t want to have to taste it when it was cold. He liked it bitter, but cold coffee did it in a way that he really didn’t care for. And he picked up one of the bacon sandwiches Ace had gotten for him that was in the fridge. They weren’t really his thing, but it was by no means bad.

Jogging down the stairs, he saw that Ace and Vanya had been making friendly conversation. Overhearing it, he heard Vanya saying, “...And that’s why I’m best friends with a farm girl,” she finished.

Ace laughed, “Being whipped up in a timestorm in an unfamiliar time and place, don’t get me started- that’s how I became a waitress...” she trailed off before meeting eyes with Five.

“We’re getting Luther,” Five said matter-of-factly. 

“Well, no time like the present, I suppose,” Ace answered.

Ace picked her jacket up and slung it over her shoulder, hanging onto it by hooking it with her fingers. Her pack was still where Lila had rummaged through it, so she ran up to put it back together. Going through it again caused the sounds of metal clunking to echo through the room.

* * *

The Doctor made his way back to the console room and switched on the comms system. The small screen in the console flickered on and he punched in a code. A face appeared on the screen.

“Ah, General. Great to see you. But may I speak to the Lady President?” he requested.

“Of course, but she is rather busy, so make it quick. I'll patch her through.” the woman answered.

The call redirected. The screen went static with an image of the Seal of Rassilon before it flickered back to life. A round faced blonde woman was on the other side. She didn’t look particularly presidential aside from the dark, noble brow, but in this body it couldn’t be helped. Her cleverness and even kindness kept her well-liked, not her figure. She gave a soft smile, but remained professional. She had an elegant but tired voice.

“Doctor, is the mission going as planned? If you need it, assistance can be given. Just say the word. It is lovely to see you though, even if it is just on a screen. I’ve missed you."

“Yes, Lady President. I’ve discovered the issue you were looking for. A little organization that also meddles with time, simply known as the Temps Commission. About that help?” he inquired.

“Of course Doctor, the CIA will be watching over you,” she nodded. He knew well that was the case. This particular president had bridged the gap between the High Council and the CIA, something consistently failed at in practice. Apparently the answer to the issue in question was mutual trust and understanding, which didn't originally fit the values either groups shared. When one of her aids informed him of this, all he could do was laugh. Politics and power seemed like the only priority to the higher-ups on Gallifrey. It only made sense that only someone who'd spent a long period of time off-world would be able to make friends with those that she once called rivals.

“Something more... specific,” he responded.

“Whatever do you mean, Doctor?”

“The mind probe…” he snarled.

She gasped, “What?! That’s torture! I won’t allow it. You know I outlawed that years ago- for Rassilon’s sake, you’re the reason I did so!” her face curled up into a frown, her regal brows finally making her imposing as her blue eyes turned cold and sharp.

“It’s a special case. Not an interrogation. I tried using the telepathic circuits in my TARDIS, but I need something stronger. I need a way to recover lost memories in someone…”

“Even so, I’m going to have to think on it, as well as the fact that most of them have been dismantled. I’d have to go browsing the vaults. But I’ll do what I can…”

He tipped his panama hat. “Thank you, Romana…” he smiled.

“Farewell, Doctor.”

The communication systems went dark. He started humming an indiscernible tune, picked up his umbrella from by the hat stand and opened the doors with a spring in his step, leaving his home behind. Back to business, he supposed. If he was going to get what he wanted anyway, he couldn't deny the Lady President. Whether or not Lady Romanadvoratrelundar was actually his friend, she was making huge leniency even letting him try to get what he planned to do already- it would be a huge disruption if they didn't perform a daring feat to reach that goal. They still had to prove their worth, and that was perfectly reasonable. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romana is going to be quite important later on, but I've had the idea of her remembering her siblings one at a time, so the mind probe stuff will probably come up later. The Commission vs Gallifrey though will be quite juicy. And so will Vanya meeting with Luther because she's getting her memories back. >:D


	9. The Creature From the Pit

They were in the fighting ring watching Luther’s match. It was going poorly. The place was grimy and the hay underneath them was stained with blood. Ace winced as another blow from the competitor landed. They could tell he was throwing the fight, he wasn’t even hitting back. His nose was bloody and he had a split lip, his shape worsening as it continued.

“Luther!” Vanya shouted with concern.

“Why isn’t he fighting back? Isn’t that his job?” Ace asked.

“Well, one of them. If he loses it could actually be good for us, depending on how bad. If he gets knocked out then we’ll be able to follow him and maybe get some sense into him. He’s a big dumb oaf who doesn’t have his priorities straight, but at least one who has a well-protected job,” Five explained.

“Oooo...” Ace muttered, muffled under the screams and jeers of the audience.

And with one more uppercut, Luther was down. He landed hard against the hay, and it was clear that he was out. Five could see Jack Ruby scowling and shaking his head in disappointment. The winner was named, and Luther was dragged out through one of the doors to the arena.

In a flash of blue and crackling electricity, Five was gone. The two looked at where he’d been for a moment. A minute later he reappeared with a pop that made the hair on the backs of their necks stand on end.

“They’re taking him to his living quarters. It’s a boarding house across the street. Should be easy,” he said.

He ushered them out a back door and the girls followed, keeping a close eye on the audience so they wouldn’t be noticed. They saw the guys entering a brick housing complex. It didn’t look like much, but Five doubted that Luther would care.

* * *

 _‘He wouldn’t shut up about the moon. I bet this is luxury.’_ Five thought.

Inside was humble, but clean. The lobby was simple, a hallway to an elevator, a staircase, and the door to an office. Ace knocked on the door to it, and heard the knob turning.

“If it’s about the pipes I called a handyman…” the landlord trailed off, seeing the group.

“We’d like to know where Luther Hargreeves is rooming? We’re his oh so loving family and we want to make sure he’s okay,” Five led with charisma.

“Room 305. I just saw some guys dragging him up there. I’ll lend you a key if you tell him I’m gonna have to evict him. I like the guy, but he’s on Ruby’s bad side now, I just can’t risk it,” he said.

Ace nodded and he went back into the office. They heard metal rummaging around, and he came back with a spare key. It fell into Ace’s hand and she grasped it tighter and tighter until she felt it digging into her palm.

The elevator was out of order, so they had to take the stairs. Except for Five, he just warped up to the door. Ace huffed as they raced up the steps and unlocked the door. Five was already inside, looking over Luther’s bedside.

“I’ve had enough of my siblings showing up like this…” he snarked, “It’s probably best you two talk to him without me. I’ll be waiting by the door,” he pointed. Disappearing in a flash of blue, he was gone.

Vanya shook Luther’s sleeping body. He snored but didn’t stir. Ace went into the bathroom for a washcloth to help with the blood. Coming back, she began to dab the cool rag on his face, being gentle around his black eye. He flinched and his eyes fluttered open.

“Luther?” Vanya asked.

“Allison?”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Vanya assured.

“Who are you? And why are you here, Vanya?”

“Cause you’re my brother. I mean apparently...”

“And because I’m someone who cares,” Ace answered, dabbing his face until it was relatively free of blood, enough so that he was recognizable at least.

Vanya finally got a good look at him. There was something achingly familiar, in a way that she didn’t like at all. She tried to keep an open mind though, and she was sure things were fine. ‘ _His fault…’_ the voice in her mind called out to her again, whispers filling her ears until she couldn’t concentrate.

But she had to know. There was something missing from the puzzle, and maybe he could tell her. She needed her memories back. She _had_ to keep pushing. Even if it hurt. If it weren’t for the Doctor she’d have driven away by now, but she hadn’t. She wanted to fill in the blanks now that she could tell where they were. If she didn’t do it, that emptiness in her chest would never leave.

“Five found you?” he asked hopefully.

“Yeah, he’s outside waiting by the door. Said you’d be better off without him. I guess you don’t get along…” she guessed.

“Yeah. He’s an asshole,” he answered.

“Well, with other people anyway” she agreed.

“An arsehole who’s very clever and wants to protect you, keep in mind. I know a thing or two about that.” Ace added, grunting. There was a bloody bruise on his arm, and she began to massage it with the rag. He yelped like a kicked puppy and Ace rolled her eyes. _‘How does this guy get through a day?’_ she asked herself.

“How much did he tell you?” he asked.

“Um, well, he filled in some gaps? Seven kids, a talking chimpanzee, time travel. A very warm and cuddly father… I got a few memories of him back too, thanks to Ace over here and her friend.” she nudged the woman. “It turns out I _really_ missed him. And, uh- the apocalypse.” She put her head down.

“Told you about that, huh?”

“Not all of it. Because I’m sure that there’s something that he left out. About me. What caused the apocalypse?”

Ace looked at her with a shocked expression and a worried thought. _‘Oh.’_ she thought. “Maybe not-” as she tried to intervene.

“You did. But not alone. I was a part of it, we all were. It wasn’t all you…”

“What? How?” Vanya asked.

“You got angry. You lost control and you blew up the moon.”

“Shit…” Ace trailed off. ‘ _That’s why Five mentioned it. I should have stopped him from leaving the room.’_

“It slammed into Earth, wiping out everything…” he whispered.

“Why would I do that?” she asked both of them, as well as herself.

“You kinda had a bad childhood…”

“And that’s why I ended the world?” she whimpered.

Ace put a hand over her shoulder, but she recoiled away from the touch. She could feel hands around her neck, constricting and pulling her tighter and tighter.

* * *

_Falling deeper into herself, she saw Luther waiting for her on the stairway. She was crying, and he embraced her for a hug, then broke the trust that followed. He was the one strangling her until she passed out, why she panicked as the house shook. She couldn’t trust her own brother._

* * *

_She awoke, feeling trapped in a dimly lit room. She couldn’t escape. She saw Diego and the others approach and seemingly argue, but Five wasn’t there. Instinctively she knew that if he was, she wouldn’t be alone._

_She couldn’t hear them, and they definitely couldn’t hear her screams. Tears, terrified yelps, choking, feeling like she was going to vomit. The rubber spikes felt like they were very much real, the walls inching closer to crush her._

_He left, dragging her sister behind him, clearly unwillingly. That was the final straw._

_The voice that whispered to her was very much not doing that anymore. Instead of letting its words drift up, it tried pulling her down into the depths of its pit. She was born in darkness, she would die in darkness._

_But then she heard the sound of a heartbeat growing louder and louder in her ears. Everything went white. The voice wasn’t some unknown creature, it was_ ** _her_** _._ _She was the monster in the pit, an animal in a cage. She would be free, and everyone would pay. Her mind spun and she was somewhere else._

* * *

 _Playing the violin, it wasn’t her in control. What was leading her body wasn’t Vanya anymore. A creature of nightmares and darkness allowed to consume and desecrate the light. The_ **_White Violin_ ** _. As she saw her sister smiling down the aisles, the real Vanya briefly broke free. But then she was grasped again by the tendrils as some of the others came running at her, Luther leading the charge._

* * *

_Vanya felt a shock. It was the real her this time, and this time she was in the barn. Playing hide-and-seek with Harlan, her happy little game was interrupted. He was there._

_And he wanted to_ **_apologize._ **

_The nerve._

_But she could look closer this time. He had his hand behind his back and her hearing was sharp and precise._

_He was holding a gun._

_If Sissy hadn’t come in with the farm’s rifle, Vanya knew he would have killed her. Without Sissy she'd be dead._

* * *

Her vision flashed and she was back in his bedroom. Her eyes were white, but the color faded back to brown.

“Are you okay?” Ace asked.

“You did this to me. You strangled me. You tried to lock me up. You tried to kill me. You almost pulled a gun when you were pretending to apologize. And you were _surprised_ I blew up the moon!”

Five overheard that sentiment and the door swung wide open with enough force to make the hinges screech. His finger was right between Luther’s eyes. His voice cracked, his brows furrowed and his ears pink with unadulterated rage. The way he held himself at this very moment made him look even bigger than his brother.

“You. Did. WHAT?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooo. Five is about to go OFF. Gradual memory restoration trope I love you.


	10. You. Did. WHAT?!

Five was simply fuming. The longer he was there the more cramped the little room seemed. Luther leaned back on the bed, and Ace and Vanya backed off, getting up from the bed and moving towards the edge of the room. Vanya was almost as pissed as Five, but too nice for her own good. Ace knew this was personal, and while she didn’t like that kind of fighting, she kept away from the action and instead kept herself close to Vanya. So she took hold of Vanya’s hand and grasped it tightly.

“You fucking imbecilic _bastard!_ You did that to Vanya?” Five shouted.

“I was trying to protect Alli-” Luther interjected.

“You didn’t protect shit. You could have helped her. But instead you decided to let her rot and because of that you _ended the fucking planet!”_ he screamed, his voice cracking.

“I didn’t know-”

“You didn’t know. You didn’t _know?!_ You knew perfectly well that Vanya’s little boyfriend was a trigger for the apocalypse and you didn’t even _try_ to be careful afterwards?! I was so dumb. I could’ve prevented this if I waited half a damn hour before thinking it was over. And now you’ve gone and ended the world _twice.”_

At this point, Five was a wall between Luther and Vanya. Even though Luther wasn’t going to try anything, and that Vanya could easily stand up for herself, he was irrationally angry and ready to throw hands. He needed to let off that steam and if it came down to violence he was all too prepared. Even in this body, with the right tricks he could take Luther down unarmed, at least in the state he was in now.

“Look, I get that-” he tried to say.

“Luther, you don’t get that. You _really_ don’t get that. If you understood, we’d be living our lives in 2019, finally able to be happy. Finally be able to be a family again. But we can’t. And we won’t. All because she couldn’t get the help she needed. So we’re stuck here nearing the end of the world _again,_ ” he paused to take a breath and the red faded from his face a bit. 

He gave a devilish smirk. “By the way, do you want to know why I’m better than you?” Five asked.

“Uh, I guess?” Luther seemed uncomfortable resisting at this point. Five drew ever closer with each passing moment, like a predator nearing prey.

“I didn’t treat her like shit when we were kids for being ‘ordinary.’ I didn’t think you’d still do that as adults. I thought you would grow up, but I guess kissing up to dad made you that much worse for it. The others were bad as kids but actually grew up- _even Klaus._ Only _you_ could do something like that.”

“Well, I’m sorry,” Luther simply said, unable to process his thoughts into words.

“You’re sorry? You’re sorry?! If you were sorry you wouldn’t have had a gun when you visited Vanya. Nope. I’m not doing this. I’m glad I told you not to waste your life, because you should get out of my way or I’ll kill you, Number One. Vanya and the others are my priority now. If I leave you behind it’s your own fault.”

Luther was at a loss for words. Five picked up Vanya’s things and ushered her to go. They weren’t sure if things were still escalating, but they still retreated. The two girls backed off and left the room to leave. Even Vanya and Ace were a bit shocked by the end. Five slammed the door behind the girls before turning around to Luther again..

Just so it would sting that much more, he said, “By the way, the landlord told me you were evicted,” before giving his brother a kick to the groin and blinking from the room.

The three jogged down the stairs, fast enough that by the bottom they needed to catch their breath. Five’s face softened as he got to Vanya’s level and saw her looking down with a distraught face.

“I’m sorry about that Vanya. I should’ve told you everything- and I know you’ve never liked us fighting- I know you never liked _me_ fighting. If I do something like that again to someone else, please try to talk me down. I don’t want to hurt someone you care about- unless that person is your last boyfriend…” he chuckled.

“It wasn’t your fault. You probably went a bit too far, but you were doing it to protect me. Thanks, Five,” she nudged him with her shoulder.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it. Let’s just go, okay? I have a few ideas that _don’t_ contain Luther.”

* * *

They continued out to the lobby to the outside. It was bright and Ace tried to distract herself. She saw sparrows roosting on a telephone wire, and she held in a laugh as they got closer to the car. Ace stopped.

“I thought I had family issues. Yikes,” she remarked.

“Well, meet the rest of us. We all have our own brand of them,” Five answered.

Ace scanned over him one more time, “My guess yours is caring too much?”

“How’d you know?” he asked.

“You remind me of not just myself, but the Doctor too,” she stared into his eyes. 

“There’s that cleverness, and you’re pretty arrogant- and the obvious time travel, but there’s that sadness and that compassion. I can’t not see him in you. I see the same look in your eyes, Five,” she said solemnly.

Five knew exactly what she was talking about. When he’d first showed up again, Vanya noticed pretty quickly the change that had happened in him. He didn’t make an effort to hide it, but it was something he couldn’t immediately tell with the Doctor. That man was full of secrets and uncertainties. And while he wanted to know them all one day, he’d have to wait. He was an enigma, and the Doctor must have known it with all the question marks he wore.

The three got in the car, Vanya and Ace both staring directly at Five.

“I have a plan, and I’ll fill you in on the way,” he remarked.

Speeding off through Dallas, all Ace could hear was the Doctor calling her in her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it was so dialogue heavy this time. But we're finally going to start this version of the main section of the Majestic Twelve next chapter, and I'm pretty excited about that.


	11. I'm NOT Wearing a Dress

As they made it back into the store, it had been raining, only getting heavier as the afternoon progressed. The lights emitted a soft glow that only hit the way it did in this weather. A gentle atmosphere combined with a wave of warmth as the door swung open, greeting the group like an old friend. Vanya quickly stepped into the corner with a phone and sat on one of the comfortable chairs in the little nook that housed them. She was genuinely worried about what would happen and needed to know that Sissy was okay, and the other was around.

“I’ll be back in a sec, I need to make a call. Sissy’s going to be worried about me. My last call got interrupted and I’ll probably be gone for a while longer. How long do you think I’ll have to stay, Five?”

After a brief thought, a little pacing, and Five leaving his blazer on a coat hanger to dry, Five put together an answer.

“I think it should be fine for you to be back tomorrow morning. I’ll force Diego out of the bedroom and let you have it, after all you didn’t exactly get much sleep. Does that sound alright? I need to find the Doc.”

Vanya nodded as she picked up the receiver. Dialing the number, she held the phone to her ear. There was a rustling and she heard it pick up.

“Hi Sissy.”

“Oh Vanya, I’m glad you called again. I got worried when things got cut off between us,” the woman sighed with relief, causing static from the other end.

Hearing that voice made her muscles relax. It was like a massage after a particularly rough day, getting all the knots in her back pushed aside as a shower of comfort came from just those words. Vanya had only known Sissy for a month, but until today that month was all she knew. Sissy was her life, quite literally. Vanya looked down and with a slight tone of upset, answered.

“I’m sorry, but I’m probably not going to be back until tomorrow. It’s been a rough day but I’m doing alright. Is Harlan okay?”

“Better than earlier, and I’m glad you found your family, but come home please.

"Does he know? I want to make sure you're okay before I go off not knowing exactly when I'll be home."

"I don't think so. Your secret's safe with me. But It’s not the same without you. Come home, V-” She missed Vanya a great deal, it was clear that this was the case during the first call, but Sissy's tired tone made it that much more obvious, her usually soft and smooth accent making her voice crack.

“It’s not for me either. I’ll be back, and you won’t be alone with... him,” Vanya assured.

“I gotta go, things are a bit busy right now. I have some chores that need finishing.”

“Thanks. Bye Sissy”

“Goodbye Vanya.”

"I... I love you."

Vanya sighed as the call went dead and she hung up. She really wanted to go back to the farm. It had a sense of safety- it had Sissy. There was a more or less normal life for her out there. After everything that happened, if she could really get it, that was what she wanted. But with what was going on, that would be unlikely.

* * *

Upstairs, Five saw that Lila was back, once again changing Diego’s bandage. They were on the sofa this time, which at least cut out the need for him to get Diego out of there himself. He grumbled, trying to wrestle back the anger that had built in him over the past week and try to dam it back up from its previous escape. His look said it all.

“So you really failed that bad with Luther?” Diego taunted.

Five was trying very hard not to go apeshit on his brother, instead taking a long, slow breath.

“It wasn’t a failure, Diego. It was a change of plan. If I’m being honest I don’t want him around right now. I didn’t expect to be the one needing time to process something, but here we are. And anyway, I think we’re set since Vanya’s over here. She might not remember much about her powers but she can be more subtle than Luther,” he ranted, slowly coming off of that rush.

“Those guys that came after Vanya?” Diego asked.

“The Swedes? What about em?"

“How do you know they won’t go after her again?”

Five simply orbited Diego, again not seeming to care all too much. He did, but didn't want to show it. He wasn't that kind of person, at least not to most of his brothers. Surprisingly enough, the only one of them didn't dismiss his feelings to was Klaus, which again he didn't think really fit his character. So instead, he gave a different answer than _'No shit they'll come after Vanya.'_ The Swedes would definitely keep coming after them. Even if they kept failing to stop the end of the world in 2019, they'd be seeking the family out until they were gone from this timeline.

“Well for one thing I’m pretty sure they want all of us, and with the group we have I think we can take them on. They attacked me when I first showed up. Have you met ‘em? They’re three blond guys.”

A light went off in Diego’s head and he glared at Five, but Lila was the one to answer.

“They tried to kill me and Diego. They’re yours? Any idea who sent them?” she asked with a tone of faux exasperation.

“I have my suspicions, but I wouldn’t worry about that," Five smirked.

The boy shrugged, like it was nothing that they were being tracked by assassins. It was in fact nothing new to him by this point anyway, but the others just didn’t get that. To be fair though, it had been a long week. 

The Doctor and Ace stepped into the room from presumably another excursion to the TARDIS, seeing the scene playing out before them. As they stepped in the audible click, click, click of his umbrella against the tile floor drew attention. Ace had a look of pity for Five, which he ignored. 

“That back there was a whole mess. Professor, any ideas?” she asked.

“I want to hear what Five has to say,” he responded.

Five said, “Right now we need answers. To do that, we need to find Dad.”

“How exactly will that help?”

“In the future, he kills himself to get us together and stop the end of the world, meaning he knows something about time travel or the future he wasn’t telling me. Obviously he didn’t know it all because the apocalypse happened even with all of us together, but that being said…” 

Five uncrumpled a small, white piece of paper, some kind of note.

“I have this,” he answered.

“Where’d you get that?” Diego asked.

“Grabbed it from his office while he was busy stabbing you,” he chuckled.

“But couldn’t him killing himself have caused this whole thing?” Ace asked, her ideas still left unanswered.

It was a messy affair, and this could be very much true. Nobody had a clue at this point, but they were trying to make eliminations. Five wanted to cover all bases because he’d seen what had happened, but the Doctor was trying a more methodical, scientific approach. He was experienced with the world ending. It didn’t phase him as much as it would the others.

“Yes, the domino effect,” her mentor agreed.

Five rolled his eyes. “Of course I’ve considered that. But it's a better idea to try than not do anything. The world ends again, so we need to go here.”

The boy pointed at the note. The paper read a date, a time, and a location. Ace got a closer look at the invite, and jumped with excitement. 

“Wicked! A party, count me in. I’m not wearing a dress though. If we could get jumped by those guys I’m wearing trousers,” Ace responded.

“What kind of pansy can’t fight in a dress?” Lila mocked.

“I thought you were the practical one- I blow shit up. You think I want to set myself on fire?” Ace dismissed.

Well, Ace did in fact do melee combat- and she'd probably have to given the situation, but she did know someone arguing with her about the practicality of period clothing wasn't the first thing she expected coming into this conversation. If Ace got her way, there wouldn't be any risk of that level of inappropriate exposure, or having to run with something that could easily cause her to trip, as it had done multiple times in the past. She'd worn dresses, but the most this always rather boyish woman felt home in would be wearing a knee-length skirt with leggings. They were guaranteed to be comfortable, and they could stretch while still always being in style.

“Well you are the one who carries highly volatile explosives in a loose rucksack,” the Doctor joked.

Snatching it from Five’s hand to see what it actually said, Diego read it out loud, “Hoyt Hillenkoetter and the Consulate General of Mexico in Dallas cordially invite you to a gala-”

Elliot was in the back of the room listening in. With the amount of people it was hard to get a word in edgewise, but he was able to get their attention as he approached.

“Hoyt Hillenkoetter? Are you serious?” he asked.

“-You know him?” Five asked.

Lila interrupted- “We should go. There’s going to be a seafood tower,” she looked at Diego.

“Hillenkoetter is one of the Majestic Twelve-” Elliot ran off and began rummaging around the room looking for something.

“Ah. The conspiracy theorists dream. A supposed shadow government trying to influence the nation from the inside. I’ve always wanted to know if they were real. After all, there are much less likely ones that turn out true. I suppose today we’re finding out,” the Doctor concluded succinctly.

He leaned in on the umbrella, his chin making contact with the question mark handle. The Doctor's thoughts continued swirling. A mystery? An unknown evil? Secret organizations and time itself being both for and against his side? It was all up his alley, philosophically and literally. All in due time, or a matter of six days at least, would he understand it.

A minute later, Elliot came back with a grainy black and white photograph. Things like this were easy to get lost as this place was such a mess with them. Photos, overly advanced tech for the time period, magnifying glasses, newspaper clippings and more littered the upstairs apartment. Five seemed surprised Elliot even understood this organized chaos. His wasn't really the right to speak however, his equations overlapping and covering entire walls, all margins annotated and the lines were never straight.

The group looked over the picture for a long moment.

“This is supposed to be them all together,” Elliot said.

“Then why’s there only eleven?” Ace asked.

“I can guess who the last one is…” Five said.

“Dad-” Diego said.

Considering the encounter the previous evening and the Frankel Footage, this didn't surprise Diego as much as he'd want it to. Then again, there were few people he hated more than Reginald Hargreeves. However, he wasn't able to put two and two together that his actions were becoming problematic. By this time, he was mostly listening to Five because he was more than a little intimidated by him. Diego, as Five aptly put, was an idiot.

The door to the room swung open and out came Vanya. She was kinda doing her own thing back there, trying to not be too serious. The sight of Vanya drew everyone’s eye, and she felt like she was being put on the spot. Aside from Ace and Five, whom she'd grown accustomed to, the introverted side of Vanya wasn't ready to open up to four other people, so her very closed off mood was a bit of a surprise to Ace, who didn't know her much yet.

“Did I walk in on something?” she asked shyly.

“We’re bringing her.” Five said firmly, his tone clearly dismissing any questions or protests.

“Where are we gonna get the clothes for this then? That’s a lot of people. I don't think I could get away with stealing more.” Lila stated.

“I may have a solution…” the Doctor trailed off, the TARDIS key dangling from his hand. A clownish smile played across his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, next chapter we get a dressup sequence. I haven't decided yet, but Five might finally get a change of clothes. If he's lucky, anyway. I'm a disaster lesbian and oooo boy I am a sucker for ladies in suits, if that's not too much of a spoiler.
> 
> Oof. In an edit I tried to separate some of the massive dialogue dumps. If the notes/descriptions seem stupid then that's why. Also, this fic is rapidly approaching the length of my previous biggest fic. I hope it gets some more readers soon even though I'm mainly doing it for myself. I'll be very thankful if you leave kudos or a comment. I really want to keep going and I have very interesting plans moving forward.


	12. Not Exactly Black Tie

Lila and Diego were impressed by the TARDIS. It was just so huge, the ever winding corridors spanned an infinite plane of existence. Deeper and deeper into the ship they could travel, getting lost in the creation from the mind of a mad genius. The pure white felt futuristic and manufactured, but despite the wonder it did make the pair a bit uncomfortable. They’d seen the color for long enough.

The wardrobes were a few hallways in. They looked perfectly plain. There were outfits strewn about and there was a privacy screen, but it didn’t seem like what the rest of the ship made it out to be. It was a bit of a disappointment to be quite frank, and Ace was the only one excited now.

“It’s way better than it seems. I play around in here a lot and I’ve even snatched bits of his old clothes,” she chuckled.

Ace went behind the privacy screen. She came back incredibly fast, wearing a different t-shirt, a coat on top, a disaster of polka-dot trousers, a silk scarf, and bowling shoes.

“It sorta dresses you up for you. I just wanted to come up with an example, and she took it to mean that she got to pick,” the woman huffed.

“She?” Five asked.

“The TARDIS has a level of sentience and somewhat of a personality. Because of the many functions required and usually having to follow the whims of her passengers, it isn’t usually obvious,” the Doctor answered.

Vanya piped up, “I think I interacted with her somehow when I was being checked up on.”

“Ah, the telepathic circuits. The most notable way to see that TARDIS as she truly is,” he nodded.

“Well come on, let’s try on some clothes!” Ace gestured.

Diego stepped behind the screen and came back with a plain brown coat and a pair of dark pants.

“I prefer black…”

He went back in and returned with an exquisite suit and tie. There was a handkerchief in the breast pocket, a gold pocket watch on a chain, and a monocle. He looked at himself in the mirror with disdain before disappearing again.

“Nope!”

Next there was a black leather leotard with a long piece of fabric hanging from his waist. It was clearly a woman’s outfit stretched to fit him and there was brown showing through the ripping seams, suggesting it had been hastily dyed. There were multiple belts and sheaths for knives, but Ace and Vanya couldn’t stop themselves from laughing.

“She really wants to mess with you today, huh?” Ace jeered.

“I suppose one of my friends must have left some clothes here- sorry,” the Doctor replied.

One final time and Diego seemed happy. It was a plain black blazer with a bright red shirt. The pants were dark grey and patterned, but it was very faint and just fit as an accent. His bowtie was a dull dark purple and neatly obscured beneath the jacket was a belt with sheathes the perfect size and shape for his knives.

“I really like that. This is great for me. Okay Five, you go.”

Five once more took off his uniform blazer and left it hanging over the screen. He wanted to keep it because it was a memento of home, but he really wanted out for a bit. Since his last change was multiple days ago because of bleeding from a shrapnel wound, it was starting to smell.

A minute later and he was wearing a grey suit with a black tie, white shirt, and a fedora. It was as big on him as when he first showed up in it. In fact as he felt around, Five realized there was a familiar hole in one of the pockets. He couldn’t tell if it might actually be the real thing plucked out of time.

“Oh, stoppit. You know that I had no taste and was working for the Commission nine days ago, right?” he stared up at the ceiling, giving up on trying to look dignified.

The next outfit was similar to his academy uniform in silhouette, but upon closer inspection it was a copy of the Doctor’s outfit with Umbrella Academy colors. A jumper with red question marks on a grey and navy background, a tie, straw panama hat, and scarf with matching swirl patterns. The coat was a bit longer and he had actual pants, and he had brogues rather than tennis shoes.

To be fair this was the kind of look Five figured he wanted after he could find something else that fit. Five just didn’t expect to get it so soon. He gave up and decided that it was good enough. But before he left the changing area, he noticed a smaller matching umbrella to the one the Doctor had. They could feasibly be father and son. He didn’t care much for that, but it could enhance the plan. As he picked it up, the irony was not lost on him.

“I figured you two would have similar fashion sense, old man,” Diego muttered.

“Hey-” Five shot back.

“I like it,” Vanya responded.

It was indeed tasteful, and the others seemed to think so too. Five adjusted to it quickly. It was a more relaxed fit than his uniform, and while keeping the academic air it looked less like a schoolboy’s uniform and more professorial. It looked much better on him than he’d like to admit. 

Straightening his tie, he beckoned Vanya in next.

Immediately Vanya saw herself in a pure white outfit, which after she looked herself over realized was the one she landed in Dallas wearing. She liked it though, so she came out wearing it.

Diego and Five gave looks that just shouted _‘God no,’_ so she went back in the closet.

Rolling her eyes and letting out a groan she had something similar, but in a dusty periwinkle instead. As Ace saw her in it she couldn’t stop herself from getting flushed. She was a disaster with both fit men and women. Suits especially were one of her weaknesses, something she liked to wear as well as see others in.

“That’s… fine.” Ace said nervously.

“Are you sure, do you want me to change again?” Vanya asked back, clueless.

“No, no, no. It looks great on you,” she nodded.

In a fit of anxiety Ace somewhat rudely pushed Vanya out of the way to get inside instead. In a matter of seconds Ace had found exactly what she wanted. It was her favorite formal wear and she never skipped a beat with her favorite tux.

It was completely black except for the shirt and bowtie, which were stark white. The contrast had a nice effect and it also helped that it had braided her hair for her. There was a smaller looking bag than her pack, but it was bigger on the inside like the Doctor’s pockets so could conceal her bat and nitro-9.

 _‘Don’t die, don’t die, don’t die…’_ Vanya thought, looking back at Ace. She was blushing until she was bright red as well and making an effort not to look too hard. She fanned herself with her hand to avoid overheating, but the girl was already sweating heavily.

The Doctor didn’t change into anything. The outfit he wore he thought was suitable for most any occasion, and that wouldn’t change at either the most or least formal of events. Thus it skipped to Lila.

The first thing Lila was put in was an outfit very similar to Diego’s old look. She pretended not to notice, but Five caught on very quickly and tried to hide his smirk.

The TARDIS very much did not want to cooperate with Lila, and it went from timelord robes, to Mary Poppins-esque stylings, to a grey suit not unlike his own. He was laughing hard by the time Lila finally ended up in something not mocking or incriminating. It was a shiny teal dress that had a short skirt and white leggings. Not ideal for black tie, but the wardrobe simply didn’t seem to want to give her clothing she cared for, so she finally gave up.

With a sigh, she headed out the door with the others to go on their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A normal dressup scene? Nah. A dressup scene where everybody's fashion is at the mercy of the TARDIS? Yeeeee
> 
> Also that's literally how I imagine Five's look to be if he got to pick his own clothes. Familiar and professional but comfortable and not demeaning. :) Also my favorite time travelers sharing clothes is something I'd like to see. *Was!* I've drawn it and will be posting it soon before chapter 13!
> 
> Also also... bi vanya bi ace bi vanya bi ace bi vanya bi ace...


	13. Just Wiretap Your Friends

Nightfall had passed, and the Doctor, Ace, and Vanya came out of Carl’s car which had been picked out of the corn field. Its rear windshield was shattered and a headlight was bust, but it was still functional and allowed the six of them easier transport to the group’s relief. They caught sight of a blue flash from the bushes and Five was in front of them.

“Look, I don’t exactly trust Lila, so she’s in my group. I really don’t care to explain it, but just listen. Doc, Ace, I’m sure you two are perfectly capable of getting in and protecting Vanya, but I need your trust too. I’ll meet you inside,” he whispered before once more disappearing with a whoosh.

Ace straightened her suit’s dinner jacket and grasped hold of the bag to her side underneath. Everything was in order. Rappelling rope, nitro-9, the bat, and three ear pieces along with a pair of plugs, all stored in the pocket. Five had his own set for the other group, but had conveniently only taken two.

Taking out the ear pieces, Ace pushed one snugly into her own ear canal before giving ones to the Doctor and Vanya. There was white noise and the comms signals came online.

 _“Five, can you hear me?”_ Ace checked.

 _“Yep. Gotcha. Doc?”_ Five responded.

The Doctor’s voice picked up well, _“Perfectly clear. Diego?”_

 _“I’m not an idiot-”_ Diego groaned.

 _“Yes, you are,”_ Five interrupted.

Diego asked again, _“But is Vanya’s working?”_

 _“Uh- yeah? I think it’s fine. The volume is a little loud…”_ at that they all flinched from the feedback Vanya’s gave due to disruptions from her power.

Five sighed and gave a forgiving voice, _“Sorry, I know it could make your powers act up, but it’s gonna be even louder in there. I think Ace packed something else that should help?”_

Ace slapped herself and groaned. “Oh, uh yeah. Sorry! I have a plug for your other ear so we can quiet yours down.”

Ace gave it over to Vanya and she tucked it in. The Doctor was in front and gave the signal to advance. Ducking behind cars belonging to invited guests, they slowly approached the building bit by bit. The yellow lighting made puddles from the afternoon rain shimmer in the night.

* * *

They saw Five’s group enter first as they reached the door, and as rehearsed the Doctor said, “Here is our invitation. I’m sure you’ll see everything’s in order, but I’m afraid my son is already inside. I need to find him, toodeloo!” before tipping his hat and the group passing by immediately after.

The invitation looked legitimate at first glance, but the bouncer didn’t have time to interfere in the event of it being fake. It in fact was, but he couldn’t tell with the moment he got and needed to check several more as the guests filed in, so he just left it on the pile and sighed.

The decor was nice. There were chandeliers hanging from high ceilings. Lots of windows, (some of which gave Ace destructive ideas,) flower vases on top of expensive looking side tables, paintings, and a general atmosphere of welcome. Which was odd, because while the party seemed big, it was only for looks. If you weren’t invited as a friend of the host, it was to seem full. To make sure the people there wouldn’t pick up on the plans and meetings behind closed doors. That was something they all had gathered in some capacity.

When they found him, Five had already managed to smuggle himself a champagne, which the Doctor looked upon disapprovingly. As the second group approached he came over to them.

“Already drinking, _little brother?_ ” Ace joked with their cover story.

“Yep. I suppose I am. Now unless you’re planning on coming with me when I put this down in a minute or join me for a drink, I’m afraid you’ll have to get lost,” he responded.

Ace took the comment in stride and took her own glass from a nearby waiter. Shrugging her shoulders, she started socializing with the guests as Five finished up, she said to him, “When you’re done talking to the Professor, let’s go.”

“Where are Diego and Lila?” Vanya asked, looking around and catching a glimpse of them.

 _“Come on, I’ll lead,”_ she heard Lila’s words caught by Diego on the comms.

“Dancing, I suspect. I told them to look out for other members of the twelve, but they’re easily distracted.” Five answered.

The boy smiled. He’d tinkered with Diego’s so anyone could hear it at any time, just in case. Diego unsurprisingly didn’t know this. He knew Five didn’t like Lila, but he had no idea that they were trying to spy on eachother. 

Five took a sip from his champagne glass and slung the umbrella over his shoulder like he was planning on hitting someone with it. To be fair he probably was, but it was still an innocent seeming accessory, the practicality of a cane without implications of poor health or rich snobbery. It gave his outfit class despite the overabundance of question marks, while still calling back to the academy in a less demeaning way.

The Doctor looked around and made sure Vanya could mingle with the other guests, and Ace went off with Five towards a corridor to snoop. They took each other’s hands, and in a flash they were gone.

* * *

The hallway in the upstairs to the Mexican consulate was lit, but nobody was there. Ace and Five listened through the doors to find the correct meeting room, and eventually she gestured to him. He calculated it in his head, and grabbing her hands, they appeared in a closet. She was too afraid to let go of Five’s hand. She knew it was easy for him, but if she let go Ace had no clue what could happen. 

Ace still shivered at the experience. It was otherworldly to her, which was saying a lot. She was a ghost in a world of greys and blues. It was like walking in the depths of the ocean and floating through space at the same time, (which she’d done both of, but in normal circumstances could and should not conceivably be done at once.) 

She sort of half-saw the things in front of her, the image rippling. She knew where the wall was for example, but she could see basic shapes behind it too, people silhouetted at a table, but completely unmoving as if time had stopped. She could feel and stand on objects, but pass through them and float. It caused a tingling sensation, and while a very brief experience, it felt like forever.

* * *

She tried to remain silent as they listened in anyway, just barely able to see through the blinds on the door. The shadows danced and words were uttered.

Five recognised the voice- it was a man from Jack Ruby’s burlesque club. He stifled a groan before thinking, _‘Godammit Luther…’_

“The president is continuing his inquiries into Roswell and the other crash sites, gentlemen. And as you know we can’t let him get his nose into any of our business. We’ll have our people in place,” they heard one man say.

Ace made a shocked expression, mouthing, _‘What?’_ to Five. He thought the same thing. One alien was enough for him. If there were more he’d be pissed.

Then they heard _the_ voice. “Gentlemen, this plan of yours seems ill-timed.”

Looking through the slats, the face finally was in focus. Reginald Hargreeves. Reginald fucking Hargreeves. _‘Diego was right.’_

“It’s going to be a turkey shoot,” another man coaxed.

The boy’s eyes widened and he tried to back away, but tripped over her foot. Despite the pain she kept her mouth shut. Unfortunately, they were still on guard. A silhouette kept getting bigger and bigger, and Five had that familiar feeling of dread, of being dwarfed. Ace tried to hold him close, but he backed away. “Dad?” he whispered, Ace trying to cover his mouth. 

“Shh…” they heard him say.

* * *

It happened so fast. When they saw those beady eyes peering through the slats, Five grabbed Ace’s hand and they blinked back into the hallway. Seconds later, a fireplace poker violently stabbed through the door, revealing a conveniently empty closet.

That was close. Too close.

Five checked Diego’s comms signal. He groaned. “He’s calling a stranger ‘mom’...”

“I know that’s weird, but I’ve accidentally done it before. It’s no big deal,” she dismissed.

“It’s not that. The other voice is familiar. Different accent, same tone to it. Diego’s trying to interfere with the past because he liked ‘mom.’ Dad really did base an android on his ex, huh? Gross…” he retched, pacing about the hallway.

Ace cringed. “Don’t meet your mum in the past. Just don’t. It never ends well.”

Unfortunately their collective moment to moan about their family’s antics was disrupted.

By the Swedes.

“Shit…” muttered Five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In summary, Five is basically wiretapping Diego, Five and Ace hear about aliens, and the Swedes are about to get turned to pulsing electric mush by a metal baseball bat and a surprisingly well-balanced umbrella. Also, only about 100 words until this is officially my longest fic. :D


	14. Honey, I Blew Up the Consulate!

Two men surrounded the pair from both sides of the hall. Like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag, out of it she pulled the metal bat. Ace readied her stance and tapped her earpiece.

“Professor, somebody’s here with us. Come quickly-” but she was cut off by gunshots. Five blinked away and started sending punches at one of their attackers. Ace dashed out of the way, knocking over a vase.

“Diego, stop creeping out Grace and get up here ya fool. We could use some help over here!” he cried into the comms call, landing on one of the Swedes from a blink. He was thrown off and jumped behind Ace’s back to go on the defensive.

Swinging her bat, she managed to get one of the brothers to drop his gun and stun him for a few seconds. There was a crack of electricity as well as one of bone. It sounded like she’d broken something in his shoulder. He groaned but refused to speak, as seemed to be a common trait between the brothers.

“We’ve been compromised-” they heard from the meeting room.

“Shit, they know we’re here too now! Where the fuck are you Diego! Doc, Vanya!” he cried.

Five’s new umbrella was surprisingly well-balanced. And heavy. With one swift movement, he stabbed another one of the blonds, and his ribs cracked. The one that had been stunned behind Ace got up and started swinging again, but his arm was suddenly pinned to the wall.

_Diego’s knife._

She managed to hit him square in the jaw. It bled and she saw teeth flying out. Blood and saliva coated the carpeting now. There was a burst of energy rippling out from a familiar source and the tallest was once again knocked down. 

_Vanya._

Swinging his leg around and kicking in the third Swede’s shin, Five got a punch to the face and a bleeding lip in return. Ace had her foot to one of their throats, and Five tried to snap another’s neck before being thrown. 

Five was great at fighting, but the constant teleporting in a cramped space as well as the mild drunkenness was starting to get to him. He collapsed and a brother got on top of him. Ace and Vanya were fighting their own Swede, (well, more like Ace protecting Vanya until her powers could be stabilized) while Diego took the middle. 

He felt hands gripping his neck. He kicked as hard as he could, but the Swede was too tall for him to reach anything. Up to right now, they were dominating over the brothers, but it shouldn’t have been that easy. Something in Five clicked. If Lila wasn’t here, then where was she?

Then he saw her. His beady eyes caught a glimpse of her about to help Diego when she saw him. Looking around, she paused for several seconds, tension rising. She pulled a knife from the wall like the sword in the stone.

_Then she came to Five._

With her help, he knocked the Swede through the window. She fended off another that had made their way to Five, and then his focus dropped.

The Doctor got there in a fit of panic, sweat rolling down his face, “My earpiece stopped working. There’s more outside- Ace, I think you know what we need to do.”

“Murder?” Five asked.

“Oh, of course not. Just some run-of-the-mill arson,” she explained casually.

Pulling out the rope from her bag, she tied it tightly to a radiator and threw it out the shattered window, “Get down, I’ll be going after you!” she shouted.

Five gathered enough strength to blink with Vanya and the Doctor, and Lila climbed down at record speeds. She was even faster than Diego. He eyed her as she got to the bottom.

With the gunfire upstairs, guests were already fleeing. At this convenience, tying the proper harness on and putting her bat away, she was ready. Ace pulled out two of the silver cans and kissed one for luck. Taking off and discarding their caps before turning a dial, she pulled the final ring pins and practically leaped from the window, only slowing down with her harness as she reached the bottom to a surprisingly cushy landing.

She grimaced as she heard crackling and a groan. Her fall had been broken by landing on the Swede Five and Lila had knocked out the window. But she couldn't be distracted, she had to get away. The plan for if things went this far would be for Five to jump in and make sure everyone got out, but she could only do one thing now.

Run.

“I said get down!” she screamed, sprinting away at her top speed.

* * *

Seconds later from the upstairs, there was an explosive bang and whoosh, blowing out many more windows. A huge cloud of debris and flame expanded as nearly a third of the Mexican consulate went up in smoke. Bricks and broken glass showered down as more guests fled the burning building. Ash filled the air and Five couldn’t help but remember the worst times of his life.

Five tried to warp back into the building to finish the plan, but there was something he consistently forgot to account for, something he consistently refused to talk about- his mental state. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. He was behind a car in the fetal position with the others. Vanya tried to soothe him, the Doctor tried to look him over, and Diego let off on his quips for once as they gave him time. Ace got back down to them and they regrouped.

Shots fired. Guests collapsed with bloody bodies, dead or dying. Screaming and guns were the only things that could be heard. Then she saw them. Armed figures in black were approaching, mowing down civilians and conspirators alike. And their _eyes._ Their _eyes._ They looked so wrong, glowing reflective red on the emotionless face of a gas mask, no fear, or anger, or regret. They were perfectly indifferent to the suffering being caused here. Memories of creatures like this flooded her mind. Daleks, Cybermen- but these were people. Doing this to other people for the sake of three lives. Tears streamed from Ace's face as she saw what was unfolding before her. She'd only made a mistake so dire once before. All those innocents- she led them into a massacre.

Now she was determined to end it.

Five was the only one prepared to fight them because he was the only one capable of dodging so many bullets, but he was limp in a panic attack and their distraction didn’t do enough. So they were going to go with plan B- no actually plan D at this point. Vanya. A horrible idea, really. But the only idea that didn’t guarantee they’d all be dead. It was still highly likely, but again, the guarantee was the big part to focus on here. She looked over to the Doctor. Determination was struck across his features. Vanya was holding Five in her arms, and Diego was looking out to count the gunmen. Lila didn't seem to care in the slightest.

“Vanya! Vanya- you’re dead. I couldn’t protect you. Stop taunting me! I know you’re not real! You can’t be real. You all died. _You_ died- Just let me forget...” Five cried, his senses clouded as his mind called back to his time at the end of days.

“I’m sorry I have to leave you Five. But I’m not gone. I’ll never be gone,” she assured. She wiped some of the blood off of his face and lingered for a moment before she picked herself up and walked beside Diego into the line of fire.

Diego hadn’t stretched his ability this thin before, but he had to try. He’d manipulated things in the air that he hadn’t personally thrown before, but he wasn’t sure he could deflect the speed of a bullet, let alone this many. Luckily, Vanya was able to deflect just about anything provided she could concentrate. He was there for backup in case her powers couldn’t manifest in time, and as a human shield.

Vanya tried to establish a semblance of control. She had before learned to use the beating of her own heart. But it was too powerful, and all consuming. Tapping into it again could let out the monster again. She would never again turn into the White Violin. She was Vanya. Not a shell or a creature, not anymore. Vanya. _Just_ Vanya. Not an ordinary girl, but not a demon either.

She focused on the sounds around her. The downpour of gunshots. The screaming of those who lived and were fleeing for their lives. The burning that was unintentionally causing Five pain. _That._ She was focusing on that.

Everything around her dulled itself, except for the crackling sound from raging flames. Her eyes began to glow a stark white, and so did the air around her hands, rippling with raw energy, similar to when Five’s powers were being manifested at their fullest. Everything flowed around her, and her hair was being blown by an unseen wind.

And as Diego’s walls from the lethality started to crumble, there was an explosion of energy. A rippling sound, like a whip crack or a sonic boom. The projectiles were pushed back and the agents were too. Unfortunately even though she tried not to, it appeared that she injured Diego. 

They were disarmed, and that allowed Diego, Lila, Ace and her enough time to incapacitate them. Since the others weren’t conditioned into the idea of brutal murder, Diego and Lila finished the job. As they went back to the others, the two saw Five cradled in Ace and Vanya’s arms. He wasn’t in a fetal position anymore. It was worse.

Five had passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woof. Sorry about the tonal whiplash. I had to keep things interesting so I decided a batch of angst might stir things up. The title doesn't help though.
> 
> I finally got there. Not only is this officially my longest fic now, I've gotten to the really divergent part where things can finally get truly interesting. Poor Five though, he can't catch a break. To be fair though, by their standards it went almost well.
> 
> And whoops. Sorry about the Consulate. I'm sure you can build a new one? Oh boyyyyyy is that gonna make a mess later. :P


	15. After the Calamity

Looking the scene over, it had calmed down a bit and the fire brigade as well as the police had been called. However, it quickly became crystal clear that they knew explosives were involved. This couldn’t easily be explained away as a gas leak, and many surviving guests were getting interrogated- however the blame would likely shift to the masked assassins. It appeared that as firefighters recovered and identified bodies, multiple members of the Majestic 12 were dead.

Luckily, Reginald Hargreeves was still among the living, allowing him to give his report. The group caught his eye and he pointed towards them, evidently having seen one of them at the party acting suspicious if not having crossed any jumping out the window. They didn’t have Five to teleport them away or help the Doctor come up with a defense, so they had to book it.

Shoving all of them in one of the cars with Five in Vanya’s arms, the Doctor hit the gas and got it up to breakneck speeds. It was a tense ride. Everyone was suspicious of Lila, Ace was crying her eyes out, Diego’s leg was injured, Five had fainted from a panic attack, and Vanya was worried for all of them.

Things were not looking up.

* * *

By the time they reached the shop again, it was long past midnight. To avoid the car being noticed and identified, the Doctor decided it was best that they park in the alleyway. Lila helped Diego carry Five inside, and coming in, first they noticed Elliot.

Then they saw Luther.

“You’re lucky Five is passed out. He’s super pissed at you,” Diego said.

“Yeah I know that, but what the hell happened to you guys?” Luther asked.

“I blew up the Mexican Consulate and got a ton of people killed-” Ace answered, pulling herself together.

“It wasn’t your fault. We all thought we would do it if things went south and the plan failed, that’s all,” Lila assured, putting her hand over Ace’s shoulder.

“That’s real peachy coming from you,” she bit back and slapped it away.

The Doctor directed Diego and Lila to get Five on a couch, ignoring Luther. None of them were in the mood.

The Doctor did a quick scan with his sonic screwdriver. The fainting wasn’t just stress-induced, but from exhaustion and multiple injuries sustained during the fight. Considering Five had been up several nights in a row now and had been using his powers in excess, this shouldn’t be a surprise, however what was a surprise was the panic attack in the first place. Even to Vanya this was worrisome, and she remembered him telling her some of what happened- just not to this extent.

“It’s so strong I can feel him. He’s in so much pain. It’s just radiating off of him,” Ace said in response to her mild telepathic abilities, a migraine from the strength of his emotions and thoughts starting to form.

“While it would be preferable for him to get rest, he needs medical attention and to be closely monitored for other symptoms of the stress- and if what Ace said is true, it’s much worse than it appears. Him and Diego should be brought into the TARDIS medical bay,” the Doctor pointed over at Luther. “You, come and carry him.”

The Doctor’s commanding and authoritative presence convinced Luther to obey. He wanted to admit to himself that just listening to whoever had the attitude to order him around was unhealthy, but he’d just been bouncing around in regards to that- his father, Jack Ruby, and now this stranger.

“I’d tell you not to touch Five if you weren’t the only person who can carry him alone, you know,” Vanya warned, her eyes flickering white for a second, making Number 1 flinch.

“And Lila- just stay away. I don’t want you in my TARDIS for the time being,” the Doctor added.

And once again they hauled themselves to the box in the alley. Everybody came in there as quickly as possible- except for Luther. He struggled to get inside, ramming into it multiple times and shifting Five’s position before managing to hunch over just enough to get through the external doors.

The internal doors were much simpler for Luther to deal with and the group continued to the med bay. The TARDIS likely adjusted to account for multiple patients, as once they got inside the room was twice the size and had two beds.

Five was laid down on the closest bed to the door. Vanya took hold of his hand while Luther was ordered to get a rag for the blood. Reluctantly taking off some of his clothes to check for injury, they found several cuts and bruises on his arms, a sprained ankle, and outside of that he still had a broken nose. There was just so much blood on him from the Swedes that they didn’t realize how much could be his too. Going back to Diego, he really didn’t want to admit how much he’d been injured, but with the group staring at his limp, he caved and sat down on the furthest bed.

“Well, if the plot was real, it looks like we just saved JFK,” Diego said, trying to look on the bright side. Unfortunately, aside from him, nobody thought that there was a bright side here.

“We just got a ton of people killed and _that’s_ what you care about? And anyway, do you know what the Professor and I were sent here to do?” Ace responded with disgust.

“Ensure that the the assassination _happen,_ yes. Even discounting the potential hundreds of lives lost _and_ your injuries, it throws a wrench in the works by interfering with history,” he responded acidly.

Ace was probably the most widely experienced with first aid of the group, so she started tending to Five after he was cleaned up, bandaging the cuts, stiffening the sprain, and breathing strips to open up his airways. Much of the work was in stubborn silence. When they were done he was simply covered in a thin layer of plasters.

Moving on to Diego things were tricker, but not too bad. The Doctor fetched gauze and a plaster mix. Filling the bowl with water and stirring it together, he and Ace straightened his leg and started covering it.

Vanya glanced at Diego, and then she felt a flash.

* * *

_She was playing violin, and Five stepped into the practice room- followed by Diego. Five clearly didn’t want him there, but she supposed it couldn’t be helped. They still had their domino masks on after a mission, so the group must have just been dismissed._

_“Go away, Diego,” Five said._

_“I can’t listen to my sister practice?” he asked innocently._

_Vanya nodded submissively as to avoid a conflict, and they both sat down. As she started on the piece, they were having a staring contest through those masks._

_“The fact that you made fun of her playing last week doesn’t help your case, Number 2,” he replied._

_“You’re just mad that I’m getting in the way of your private t-time with your little girlfriend,” he mocked._

_"Next time try saying that to Luther. I'm sure he'd react well."_

_Five took off his mask specifically to give him a look of disgust. Vanya just shook her head at both of them and went back to reading her music. It was a more modern piece containing violin and was very different than what she was used to. However, in the house she didn’t get much variety, at least not unless Five got her something during the academy’s occasional visits to the library._

_“Any-anyway, during free time I’m planning on p-picking up an instrument myself. I’m thinking bass guitar,” Diego crossed his arms and leaned back._

_Vanya responded, “I don’t know how to play that, but maybe I could teach you how to read music?” she volunteered._

_He glanced over at Five with a shit-eating grin and Five grumbled._

* * *

_She was in the front hall of the mansion, and he was passing her, jogging up the main stairs with indifference, his signature black costume with a harness of knife sheaths._

_“What’s she doing here? You don’t belong here. Not after what you did,” he responded._

_Another thought and she remembered a book. Her young self’s pale face sulking on the cover. ‘Extra Ordinary,’ the title read. ‘Oh,’ she thought. She knew why she wrote it, but she understood that they were mad._

_“You’re seriously doing this today?” her sister asked before commenting, “Way to dress for occasion by the way.”_

_“At least I’m wearing black…” he said before disappearing around the corner of the staircase._

* * *

She opened her eyes and stood back up from Five’s bed, shaking herself around because her limbs were going numb.

“Are you okay?” asked Ace, who’d finished up his cast and was waiting for it to dry.

“Yeah,” she answered. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

For once, this was actually true.


	16. It Has to Happen

After going back to the wardrobe and getting out of their blood soaked clothing, the group had decided to stay in the TARDIS overnight. Looking after Five and giving Diego actual medical care were priorities. Ace showed them to the spare rooms and bathroom except Luther, who was banished shortly after. The Doctor on the other hand stayed in the control room to make calibrations and communicate. It was a simple idea, and while the ship would have many other inhabitants, at least for a while he'd be alone.

To give them a better sleep he once again dimmed the lights, and after firmly locking the door to keep out Luther and Lila in case they tried to get in the way, the Doctor flipped a switch to the comms system. The screen flickered on, and briefly after an appearance of the Seal of Rassilon, the Commander appeared on the screen.

“Hello, I’ve come to make a report. Again Commander, I’d prefer a direct line to Lady President Romana.”

“Alright, she’s actually free right now, and as per her request I can also open a link to Head CIA Coordinator Narvin or if he’s present even be on the same link,” the woman replied.

“Really? Narvin of all people... He is perfect for the role anyway...” he rolled his eyes. They’d met a couple times before, and the encounters weren’t entirely pleasant.

“Yes, him. Show some respect. He already gets enough flack from your-” she was cut off as Romana was patched through much more quickly than the previous time they spoke. The Doctor tipped his hat to her.

“Hello, Doctor. I know you didn’t want to see Narvin again after that mess with the Quantum Possibility engine, and that other time even further back, but his first impressions are often poor and he’s changed. He’s actually quite chummy with _Leela,_ which was my least expected outcome after meeting him. He’s going to come through any second…” she trailed off.

The already tiny screen split down the diagonal. Romana’s face to the top left, Narvin’s on the bottom right. Contrasting her golden robes and extravagant collar, he was wearing a simple black and white set. He had a fairly plain appearance, young looking and clean shaven. With short brown hair, he looked almost like any ordinary human- except for the eyes. They were just outside the realm of blue and shifting into purple. Just alien enough for him to appear striking.

“Hello Doctor. We meet again. I sincerely apologize for us parting under poor terms. In case you were wondering, Leela is doing well,” he said with a professional air.

“He already knows that," she answered dryly.

“Well that’s something I always want to emphasize, considering what he wishes of us...” he nodded, smiling.

The Doctor did seem alright with this, but he saw Romana smirk.

“People are gettine suspicious of your relationship Narvin, this isn’t helping your case. Just last week I saw Ambassador Kalbez eyeing you two during a chat.” she bantered, chuckling a little.

“Let’s stay on task, shall we? Now Doctor, a partially intact mind probe has been located. It needs repairs as well as modifications, but if given the proper time it should be suitable for the application you wish to use it for,” he replied.

The Doctor spoke up, “The Temps Commission is not letting up on the timeline. Only a few hours ago, they sent assassins.”

“After you? You’ve only been in this timeline for a couple of days!” the time lady exclaimed.

The Doctor shook his head, “No, not me, though I expect they will soon. The source of the temporal anomaly is a family of I believe 6 or 7 that belongs in the time period their desired apocalypse takes place, and that explains the connection to 2019-.”

She gave the familiar shocked expression. “You never said anything about that-”

“I’m afraid I didn’t. That ‘desired timeline’ isn’t supposed to happen. If it was I would have experienced it long ago.”

Romana huffed. “If their plans succeed it could cause irreparable damage to the Web of Time. You must stop them, or at least find a location so they can be dealt with by the High Council and CIA.”

“What of this family? Why are they here?” Narvin asked.

“An accident while fleeing from the apocalypse. While I’ve befriended them, they also seem to be causing damage to the timeline the longer they’re here. They all seem to have abilities rare or nonexistent in humans, and that could also be a cause. I need to get them back to their time, but their time is in flux and may or may not exist anymore,” he explained.

Romana shrugged, “Then you need them to reign them in. Keep the timeline in order and prevent changes wherever possible. _And_ you need to gather intel on the Commission to find the trigger for the outcome they want. I’m sorry for asking so much of you, but I know you can do it. Our end of the deal will be completed.” Narvin nodded at the sentiment.

The Doctor frowned, trying not to make eye contact with the president, “Unfortunately we’ve already caused damage. A faceoff between us and the Temps Commission caused an important building to be burnt down and several needless deaths- some of which were instrumental to the assassination.”

Narvin cringed, “Oh, _oh_ that is a problem. I’m sure we can do cleanup once you’re out of 1963, but you can’t let the main event change. Like it or not, Doctor, the target _must_ die. If you can’t get things back on track the entire timeline unravels, so if you have to do it yourself...”

The Doctor nodded reluctantly. He hated taking a life, but he understood the risks. He did know Five used to be a trained assassin- perhaps he’d be able to perform the task and keep the major events in line. He sighed. “Goodbye, Romana.”

“Goodbye, Doctor,” she answered

“Farewell, Doctor,” Narvin finished.

The screen went black. He walked over and put his hat and umbrella by the hatstand and pulled his hands through the hair on his balding head. He felt deflated. If he was going to get his plan in motion, he needed to plot another death.

* * *

He stepped into the halls, his shoes clacking on the hard floor. Everybody else was asleep in the bedrooms or medical bay, making the ship mostly silent. He strolled over towards his own, hoping to get some actual rest for once and be able to actually think something over, at least perhaps read a book or practice chess with himself. Then he stopped at Ace’s.

The light was still on. And he heard sobs.

He gently knocked on the door a couple of times, and she answered.

“Come in-” she yelped.

As he opened the door, he saw it was a mess, even more than when they first left. A vase that used to hold fake flowers was broken and the flowers scattered on the floor. She’d torn some of the posters from the walls. All of her dresser drawers hung open, and the dinner jacket and bow tie she took back with her had been discarded. She was sitting on the bed, makeup from the party pouring down with tears and her braid half pulled out. She'd lost her composure and was finally letting it all out again.

He slowly approached and sat on the bed with her. Wrapping his arms around her, he asked a simple question.

“Do you need to talk?”

She shook her head, but he stayed by her side.

* * *

They’d been sitting there in silence for a while, aside from Ace’s crying and the Doctor’s soothing hums. He hugged her tightly, but eventually she pushed him away and spoke.

“I did it. I killed all those people. It's all my fault.” she sobbed.

“It isn't your fault. The plan was poorly thought through. I should be the one to blame. I forgot the nature of humanity. Your race is so frail and I so often fail to remember something so important. Ace-" he soothed.

She interrupted him, “When this is over, we’re done- I did it again. I can’t let this happen anymore.”

“Alright, if that’s what you want. I’ll be there for you though, because we’re family. Because I love you,” he answered.

She started to calm, but still needed space. Her tears were beginning to dry up, but he knew that this would leave a permanent mark. She had gotten many scars before, emotional and physical. They always eventually healed over, but she could never forget they were there, every single one a reminder of what she did and what she didn’t, and what might’ve been if she made a different choice. This one would take a long time.

“Could ya leave me alone now please?” she pleaded. 

He respected her wishes and slowly got up to leave. As he got to the door, he picked up her bomber jacket, which had been strewn on the floor, and hung it up on a coat hook. He shut the door gently, as to not disturb the guests, and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor hasn't seemed to have been doing much recently-There's a reason for that! And if you're familiar with Big Finish: Gallifrey or the Cartmel master plan, you probably have an idea where this is going for the TARDIS team. Ace is going to go through an arc, and as I'm oh so deviously planning, she won't be alone. 
> 
> References to the comics I suppose, but I had that particular idea for a while. Also, angst- so much angst.


	17. 'Five' Minutes Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five gets a rest from the chaos for once and finally gets a chance to perform some self-care.

Vanya had been sitting by his bedside since she woke up. She wanted to go home to Sissy, but that couldn’t be done now. She needed to make sure Five was okay. The light to the infirmary was on now, and Diego had woken up a while ago but was stuck in a cast, grumbling to himself.

As she grasped his hand, she felt him start to stir. His eyes fluttered open, green reflecting the white artificial light. 

_“Vanya...Vanya…”_ he mumbled.

“Five?” she asked with concern.

He awoke with a start and then immediately tensed up, curling his hands into fists. His eyes became crazed and bloodshot. 

“Where are we? How long was I out? Who do I need to kill?!” he interrogated, his voice cracking.

She gestured for him to stop and pointed around, showing where they were and letting him get a view of Diego.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You’re safe. You were out for about eight hours, Five.”

He didn’t react to this too well. He tried to get up, but groaned in pain. Vanya kept him on the bed, despite his obvious desire to leave.

“What happened?” he asked, more politely this time.

To keep things simpler, she explained it in a less explicit way. “The building blew up. We got hunted down by more of those people. You got us out safe but fainted and I had to finish it.”

He tried to get out again, but Vanya continued pushing him, encouraging him to rest, and when he wouldn't sit still she pulled him in for a loose hug, which he reciprocated. He remembered some of it, and started making deductions. When he answered her questions he wouldn't have to look her in the eye.

“If the building exploded, what about dad?”

“He’s alive,” she answered. “But some of his friends aren’t.”

He groaned and put his hand to his head. She couldn’t tell if he was developing a migraine or he was just disappointed in how badly it went. Probably mad at Diego or Lila, she was guessing.

“The Majestic 12 plot is real. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the crackpot Elliot was right. I eavesdropped on them with Ace. If it doesn’t go through Kennedy won’t go out and… ughh…” he groaned, realizing what might have to happen.

“What?” she asked, slightly worried.

He responded with a vague answer. “I think we’re gonna have to be here for a few more days. At _least_ until the 22nd, which I don't like at all. That’s cutting it close, and I’m gonna have to do something risky…” he trailed off, waving his hands around.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“No, but you wouldn’t want to know why.”

Five didn’t want to explain paradox psychosis to Vanya- certainly not while he was in this state. He wanted her to think he was okay. If he met himself Five was sure he didn’t want Vanya there. She’d try to help him, but he could hurt her. It would be a matter of minutes that could change the fate of the world.

The Doctor would be able to help. He was sure of it. He tried to jump, but he had no juice left from the previous night. There was no coffee or sugar in sight. Then he thought better of even trying. He remembered the labyrinthine design of the TARDIS and also what damage it could potentially cause if he tried to blink while inside.

So instead, he pushed Vanya away and mustered all his strength to get up. He shivered, realizing that while he had pants and socks, his shirt had been replaced by a rough, thin hospital gown. He felt a sting on his left side. He’d probably bruised a rib, but he couldn’t tell because underneath it his body was plastered with bandages. He sloppily flipped of Diego and jogged clumsily from the med bay.

* * *

 _“Shit,”_ he whispered to himself, confused as to where to go in the infinite corridors.

Luckily, he wasn’t as lost as he thought, because he heard humming a somber tune. It was gradually getting louder and he went towards the sound. It was the Doctor. 

“Ah, hello Five! Are you doing alright?” He forced a smile.

Five was impatient. “Yeah, yeah. What way to get out of this place? And where are my clothes?”

The older man shook his head. “Even if you’re well-rested now, we need to talk things through. At least take a shower and eat a proper meal. The others claim that you haven’t been taking care of yourself.”

“Ugh, fine. Where’s the bathroom then?” Five asked.

“At the end of this hall, make a left. Then, after that, the third door on the right. It’s the room next to the wardrobes. That uniform of yours should be clean, if you still want it.” he answered.

The Doctor seemed more detached than normal. He wasn’t usually extremely invested unless Ace was around, but not like this. If he had a facade before, it was cracking. Five wasn’t good at the feelings stuff though, so he just kept moving forwards, limping a bit as he turned the corner.

Five turned the light on in the bathroom. It was small and simple, but unlike all the other rooms he’d seen, the walls were smooth. It must also have been near the bedrooms, because there were two cups and toothbrushes planted by the edge of the sink.

Fresh white towels were laid on the toilet lid, and packets of gauze and bandages. The room was buzzing with warmth and already steamy, and there was a temperature dial on the wall. The bathroom evidently also contained a sauna.

Five let his gown fall away as he embraced the hot humidity. Inhaling the steam put aside the taste of ash and blood he could never seem to keep out of his mouth. Getting the rest of his stuff off, he stepped into the shower and turned the tap on high. He ran his hand through his hair and realized just how grimy it had gotten.

The soaps inside it smelt of rosemary and the shampoo of citrus. He scrubbed his skin until it was red, (aside from his stitches) and then spent a good twenty minutes on his hair, trying to get every little bit of grease, blood and dirt out.

When he turned the water off Five realized that the tub was covered in a rust-colored layer. He’d been caked in more blood than he thought. He got out, dried his hair, and used some deodorant that he found in the cabinet. Then he greased up and ran a comb through his messy hair to make it straight and presentable before bandaging himself up again.

* * *

Covering himself in towels, he limped on over into the wardrobe room again. Behind the privacy screen he found his uniform, which appeared to have been soaked to get out- again more blood- and dry-cleaned.

He spoke out loud, sure he would look crazy. "I know I was rude to you, but thanks. I'm not used to being taken care of, not after the apocalypse, or the Commission, or even my family. I guess I didn't expect it from a ship," he said to the TARDIS.

The walls hummed in response and he made a secret smile.

He grimaced at the uniform though, but needed something to wear, so he put the clothes he’d been wearing for over a week back on. He straightened his tie and used a shoehorn to get the black sneakers he’d stolen back on. 

While he wasn’t healed yet, he still needed to step into his role. One that he, nor anybody else, seemed too excited about.

_Looks like I’m finishing my last mission and killing a president, huh._


	18. One More Sister

Wandering the hallways, Five ran face-first into the Doctor again. Both of their spirits seemed to have improved since their last meeting, as Five was clean and had time to process things, while the Doctor had been humming a more cheerful, upbeat tune.

“I know what I have to do,” Five said.

At the exact same time, both of them said:

“I have to kill the president.” 

“You have to kill the president.”

"What?" they both asked each other.

The timelord cocked an eyebrow. “And how would you know that?”

“Because I got asked to do it. I skipped out on my last mission and broke my contract to get back to 2019. A little less than two weeks ago now. Staying longer than I probably should, but if members of the Twelve are dead...”

“If you were there then it could be a problem,” the Doctor mused.

“Exactly. So on the 22nd I need you to spot for me, and I need to get myself- by convincing him or forcing him- through the time corridor before JFK comes down the bend to replace the other me. I assume you know about paradox psychosis?”

The Doctor nodded. “In Timelords it is practically nonexistent, save for memory loss, but in other races that haven’t evolved to weather the vortex, it can be _particularly_ nasty, and I can assume it would only be all the more _dangerous_ were it to happen to you. I’ll do it.”

“And getting outta here once it’s done?”

“The timelords requested that I stay until the 25th. Unless you have other plans, your family isn’t leaving until then. Find the others though, I’ve been asked to keep you on a tight leash, especially after the fiasco last night.”

Five grunted and ran his hands through his damp hair and started pacing around in circles. His whole body fizzled with energy that had been slowly returning to him. It made him feel tingly and anxious, and that didn’t help his already existing urge to get up and do _something_ , anything at all.

“Find the others- wait. How much do you know?” Five asked.

The Doctor started moving towards the console room. “I’m aware that Luther came in last night if that’s what you mean. He said he knows some things about that. If you’re able to sort out your differences he could be useful to us.”

“I’d rather run a mile on broken glass than talk to him, but looks like there’s no other choice. If he knows anything about Allison or Klaus, I suppose it’ll be worth it. Is Vanya going back to the farm?”

“Yes, she said she’d be returning once she was sure that you were alright, so probably later today. Though, once we’re sure everything’s in order you need some help of your own, Five. Not just helping me or the world,” he stated.

The Doctor got to the console and pulled a switch, opening the doors.

It was sunny out today, in heavy contrast to the cloudiness and rain of the previous afternoon and night. Moving past the car, Five finally could muster up enough energy to jump inside the building. The amount of excess effort made the air ripple and the energy converted that much brighter.

The first thing he did once he got inside was put on a pot of coffee. As the others had ordered him to eat, he got another bacon sandwich from the fridge. He’d prefer something with sugar to give his powers another boost, but calories were calories, and he didn’t want this body to end up with cavities. He’d already developed plenty of bad teeth in the apocalypse, if he could avoid those health issues this time, it would be a blessing.

He saw Luther approaching, a massive behemoth hulking over him. Even a younger him wouldn’t be afraid of this Luther. He may have been big, but whether from his ego or experience, Five could never muster any fear for someone he knew was just a big doof.

“Hey moron! I thought I told you not to come around here.”

“You also told me I was _evicted._ So I found a place to stay. Is that such a bad thing?”

“It really would be if you didn’t know anything about the others. Now spill it,” Five ordered indignantly, over a mouthful of bacon.

“I have Allison’s address. And she’s met Klaus again.”

“Lemme guess, she’s the reason you threw that fight?” he delivered.

“How’d you know?”

“Ya thought you were fooling people with the overcoat. Even if you don’t tell a secret everybody knows it to some extent. And considering what I got when I was around Vanya- with a friendship I might add- you think I was _that_ stupid, even as a kid? Oh, I'm just kidding myself. You thought everyone was stupid because you were mister 'Team Leader' who always made the plans that nobody followed. Well, sorry to shatter your worldview, but you're the dumbest of all of us.”

There was a pause.

“She’s married,” Luther sulked.

“I don’t give a shit about who she loves as long as they aren’t dangerous. Are they?”

“Ray’s really nice. Steady job, nice house, smart. He deserves her.”

“Good. She found someone better than you. Now give me the address. I don’t have time for your shit today. I had enough of it last week,” Five gestured to one of the many pieces of paper scattered around the room.

“It’s only been a week for you?”

“Well- more like three days. Aside from a few setbacks, also overall a much better three days than my time in 2019.” Five gulped as he gorged down the last of the sandwich.

Taking a pencil, Luther wrote the name down and an address. Allison Chestnut.

“That explains why I didn’t find her in the phonebook. Nice last name. Sounds more real than the pretentiousness Hargreeves could offer, especially with something like Allison.”

"Rude," Luther remarked.

"Oh, and uhh- if you see Diego's new girlfriend Lila, tell her that if I see her again, she's dead. She's been getting in my way and knows too much. Make yourself useful, Number 1."

Five chugged down the entire pot of coffee he brewed and stepped away from his brother, right before disappearing. That left Luther alone again. Maybe he’d see Elliot, if he wasn’t out of the house on that weird schedule of his.

* * *

"Hey Doc!" Five shouted.

Somewhere from further inside the shop, the timelord emerged. He'd been waiting expectantly, but his hands were greasy. Apparently he'd been working on something mechanical, but Five didn't know what. Five suggested he come with, and the Doctor shrugged because he had nothing much better to do. 

They got in the car and looked at a map. Five had gone past the street in question once or twice before as he started to get a feel for the city. A nice, easy trip in a scenic part of town. Allison wasn't Five's favorite, but he was excited to meet her new husband, especially considering that she didn't seem to function without Claire when they'd last seen eachother. Along with the racism, when he first fell, he didn't expect 1963 to be kind to her, and even less likely for her to be leading a happy life. If she had that, he couldn't help but be grateful to the people who got her there.

_One sister down, one to go._


	19. It's Not Just 'Poofing'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the very end of the last chapter I made an edit to include the Doctor in these chapters. It's mostly for Klaus next time, but that's the only change in case you were wondering.

They parked on the street. It was your stereotypical 1960’s neighborhood. Nothing too special, but it had a welcoming atmosphere and the warm sun tied it all together. Aside from the house colors which would clash with the typical modern taste, it looked almost normal. Like they could conceivably belong there.

“Luther wasn’t lying. Nice neighborhood. Well, he wouldn’t, considering the subject matter. I wonder if she’s in…”

There was a car up front, so he did have a hint of hope in terms of her presence. Telling the Doctor to stay away from the door so he could greet her, Five took a deep breath and rang the doorbell

About a minute of awkward silence and it swung open, with clear discomfort or reluctance. It was Ray. He was in a mostly casual outfit, save for a tie and dress shoes. He eyed them suspiciously, which would make sense to him at least.

“Hello, may I help you?” he asked politely.

“I’d like to see my sister,” Five answered condescendingly.

“I think you have the wrong address…” he answered.

“Oh, I have the right one,” he sighed to himself and chose his next words carefully. “...I’m looking for Allison Chestnut.”

Ray raised an eyebrow. _Another brother? Another_ **_white_ ** _brother?_

Straightening himself out, Five added, “I heard you’re her husband. Good to meet you.” He offered a hand to shake. “I like to make sure all my siblings do well in their personal- affairs, and you’ve helped her out a lot. I’d like to thank you, Ray.”

Still confused, Ray pointed over to the Doctor. “Then, who’s he? Another brother? Your dad?”

“I’m the Doctor. A family friend.”

“Is she home?” Five asked.

Ray nodded. While he seemed comfortable around Ray, he avoided continuing the niceties and flickered out from the porch and returned behind him inside the threshold. The man flinched and almost fell over, only catching himself on a side table near the door, not able to get words out of his mouth.

“Call me Five.”

“Allison!” Ray shouted.

She came out, poised to fight as she heard his distress. There was probably a warrant out for their arrests after all. Her look was of interest to Five. It seemed her style had completely changed. Before she had a relaxed, sometimes muted look, drawing attention to her frizzy highlighted hair. Aside from pink, lots of cool colors littered her wardrobe before. Now she was wearing a bright yellow sunflower dress and her hair was permed into large, neat curls.

Then she saw Five. He waved a hand, but was unprepared when she ran into him for a hug. He flinched. Five wasn’t particularly the most touchy-feely. Unless it was with Vanya, who thanks to numerous factors brought out his humanity, he liked avoiding that type of thing.

“Whoa. How long has it been for you?” he asked.

“Too long,” she answered, her voice softening.

“So this is _also_ your brother. And he can just poof different places?”

“You already showed him? Ugh, Five! He’s a normal guy who’s already had a rough time. You don’t need to give him a heaping pile of shock- geez,” she looked ashamed. She pointed over at the stranger. “And, uh- who’s he?”

The man hooked his umbrella into his pocket and answered, smiling. “I’m the Doctor. I’ve been helping your brothers and sister out.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “So that’s everybody. Luther told me about the guys, but I hadn’t heard anything about Vanya. She’s with you?”

“Back at home base with the others. We’ve got everybody except you and Klaus, maybe Ben.”

She welcomed the visitors in. As soon as Five got to the kitchen, he snatched the coffee pot. “Mugs?” he asked. His sister pointed toward the cabinet he was looking for.

“How’s this kid your brother?” Ray asked.

“Don’t call me ‘kid’,” he cut back.

“Oh, he’s like that. Shocker, prep school boy is a brat.”

“No, I’m _literally_ not a kid, man. My body is, but I’m older than you. And that _‘poofing’_ as you so eloquently called it, put simply is the reason why.” Five nodded after a sip of the coffee. It was a good blend. Then he sat down at the table and had a look at the paper open to one particular page, a red circle around one article. He grimaced and looked at her pointedly.

“A sit-in went bad? A riot? Why’re you in this picture? Ally, what the hell have you been up to?” He tried to keep himself calm, before adding to keep her husband from getting mad. “Ray, I’m not against sit-ins- they’re very important. I’m against my sister being involved.”

“Why? She’s brilliant and a fantastic organizer,” he asked.

“Allison, we need to preserve the timeline. We have another apocalypse. You can’t be doing this. I know it must be tough and you want to make things better- but you can’t just go interfering with history.”

“Precisely. _”_ the Doctor added. “The more you change, the bigger the consequences. As a decision makes ripples, given time the ripples turn to waves.”

“How poetic…” Five remarked, giving a sarcastic eye roll.

“You should’ve listened to the full soliloquy,” the Doctor bit back.

"Tell that to Klaus," she retorted.

"What did he do this time?" Five groaned.

"Started some weird cult of hippies-" she was cut off.

 _"That's_ how he was able to get me out of jail?" Ray asked.

“Alright then, looks like we're going to go see Klaus. Come on, sis. The family needs you.”

“Ray, promise not to break down and I’ll let you meet them. _All_ of them,” Allison shushed.

He nodded in response. Yes, he was more than a little shocked by the events of today. Yes, he’d just met three of his wife’s previously unmentioned white brothers. Yes, he mysteriously escaped being brutally beaten by a cop. Yes, he saw one of them flicker in and out of existence before telling him that this boy was actually older than him.

And _yes_ , he was still going to meet the rest of her family. Ray’s devotion to Allison was unmatched and he always had her back. 

So, despite his uneasiness and complete tonal whiplash from the wild day before he got into the car with them.

* * *

Since Allison knew where Klaus was, she drove them to the mansion. It was just out of town. His strange hippie cult apparently based itself around here when it wasn’t on the road for some bizarre pilgrimage, and she could see why. It was easily as big as the Hargreeves Mansion and thanks to being in a rural area it had much larger grounds, including massive gardens and an orchard. People had arrived by now since her previous visit and were playing, working the field, and more. It smelled nice and had a quite friendly feel to the place. It may have been a cult, but it did feel like the kind of thing Klaus would want to cultivate if he used his money for something other than drugs. 

The Doctor was the one to knock on the door this time. With the handle of his umbrella, the loud rapping sound brought much attention.

After a very long time, there was an answer, the door pulled open by a bearded half-naked man, on the other side of the threshold an isle made from other people sprinkling the ground with flower petals.

Klaus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, Ray doesn't react nearly as badly at the riot because he's a nice man and a supportive husband and she's trying to help him through these revelations because they have a kind and supportive relationship. :) It probably helps that he's finding out about their powers much sooner.


	20. You Met Me But Didn't Notice

While Allison wasn’t afraid of looking at Klaus like this- as teens he wore just underwear around the house when he could get away with it, the men weren’t so enthused. It wasn’t the most pleasant view, whether you considered Klaus attractive or not, and it was only made worse for them, Ray being incredibly straight, the Doctor- especially this incarnation- repulsed by even the most basic of romantic gestures, and Five being, well- Five. So aside from her, all of them averted their eyes.

“I’d like to thank you for getting me out of jail again, but would it be so rude of me to ask you to find some clothes?” Ray asked politely.

“Yep. I don’t want to see more of you than I have to. Your stupid face is more than enough,” Five snarked.

“Agreed,” the Doctor finished.

“Uhh, well honestly ehh- I can’t blame you. Come in.” Klaus shrugged, turned around ushered them in nonchalantly in one fluid series of movements, the Destiny’s Children bowing to the group, Klaus gesturing at them to back off and stay where they were.

As they went deeper into the mansion it only seemed bigger than before, them passing through long corridors, some narrow and some wide, until they reached a huge room with a glass roof. Sun shone through and there were railings a few steps above it and flowers all around, making it seem like a fully indoor courtyard.

Dried flower petals were scattered at their feet, some clearly much older than others. Klaus pointed up and gestured that he’d only be a minute changing, so they lay in wait, sitting at the stone bench near the edge of the room.

“So I suppose what happened last night isn’t going to be the biggest anomaly. The CIA will simply wish to disperse me at this point...” the Doctor stated.

“CIA? What the hell?” Ray asked. Allison looked much the same.

“Oh, not that CIA,” he brushed it off, and left it at that as if that was a thorough explanation.

Five pulled out a notepad and pen, “So Doc, I’ve been working on redoing the equations for the time portal I made last time in case I have to do it myself, and it’s been driving me crazy. Forty-five years of work in less than five days. This will probably kill me.”

“What kind of math is it?”

“Mostly theoretical and applied physics, but there’s some stuff my dad definitely stole from governments- I think some of it was classified under the NSA? It’s new enough that I don’t think it’s even been named yet.”

“Hand it to me then, I could check it and push you in the right direction.”

Five did as instructed and handed the paper before letting out a defeated sigh. He was getting impatient for Klaus and the rest of the family. He thought he lost all his patience by the second day back in 2019, but apparently he was mistaken, as Five only seemed to be getting more aggressive, shaky, and hyperactive as the days went by, even after a full night of sleep and a shower.

Glancing through it, the Doctor gave a contemplative frown. Raising an eyebrow and making strikethroughs with the pen, he answered, “This is _not_ from the NSA. Not even past 2020. Aside from the existing theoretical physics, basic spatial coordinates, and a few elliptic patterns, _none_ of this originates from earth. Humans don’t even gain the most rudimentary understanding of these spacio-temporal equations for several centuries.”

“They were talking about Roswell in that meeting. It could still be stolen,” Five suggested, trying to deny his curiosity and confusion, to the Doctor and to himself.

“Possibly. But why wouldn’t he tell you?”

“He kept a lot of secrets.”

“Well, now I have my suspicions on what those secrets actually are…” the Doctor trailed off before exclaiming, “Ah!- It seems I’ve found the mistakes.”

“Could I see?” Five leaned over to have a look at the changes to his work.

“You’re using the theory of relativity. The idea for it is correct, but the equation has always been completely wrong. Either way, it isn’t compatible with alien mathematics. You’d sooner learn Gallifreyan trans-temporal algebra than get something this messy working properly.”

At the statement, Five started feeling deflated. Most of his life he’d been working on those equations, and now he was being told he didn’t get anything right. It felt like something his dad was saying. Over and over, he couldn’t help but think about the _‘I told you so’_ gnawing at the back of his mind in the apocalypse, another bruise to his ego. He never responded well to criticism. 

“How do I look?!”

Interrupting their thoughts, Klaus emerged. He was wearing a shirt for once. It was rainbow patterned and appeared to be tie-dye. He had loose baggy pants, mostly white but having an intricate black swirl pattern near the base of the legs.

“Awful, but it’s better than being naked. Let’s go.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa Five. You think I’m just gonna leave with you before I show you around the place? Hell no!”

“The apocalypse date moved up,” he stated matter-of-factly. “Your cult won’t be happy about that.”

Klaus groaned. 

_“Alright, then tell them,”_ he heard Ben say.

“No, no I won’t,” he protested.

“Who ya talking to?” Five asked.

“Nobody,” he answered.

_“Thanks for nothing."_

“Okay, walk around and see first. If we fix it I won’t have to tell my children anything about this and we can get it over with.”

“It’s seven days from now.”

“Well fuck me sideways then,” Klaus shrugged, yawning.

_“You get up to that plenty with your hippies, Klaus. More than enough.”_

“Five, you never said that!” Allison yelled.

“If you don’t come with us I’m afraid its likeliness will only continue to grow. And in case you haven’t experienced it yet, your family is being pursued by hired guns,” the Doctor stated.

“So, the usual.”

“What?!” Ray asked.

 _“Oh, so you want to be dead like me? At least you wouldn’t be the only person I could talk to if we moved on...”_ Ben remarked.

“Shut up.”

“In case you were wondering, it isn’t about you saving the world. It’s about keeping you out of it. Until the date passes, I’m not letting you out of my sight.” The Doctor rapped his umbrella on the floor, the sound echoing across the walls and from the high ceiling.

“Fine, fine…” Klaus sighed. 

There was much fanfare as they left the mansion. The Children kneeled and waved their arms at the group as a form of hailing to them, showing their hand tattoos at every opportunity. Flower petals were sprinkled on the honored guests. Five sneezed from the pollen. It was a tiny, high-pitched squeak.

“Aww, Five- I’ve never heard you sneeze like that before! It’s so cute!” Klaus squealed.

“I’m not cute!” he protested.

“Yes you are, don’t deny it. Come on little bro, even as kids you were one of the cuter ones. That little dimple with the birthmark was everything, they loved putting it on the comic book covers.”

“If you say I’m cute again, know that I’m perfectly capable of kicking you so hard you’ll get fatal internal bleeding,” he grunted through gritted teeth.

Klaus shuddered and stopped pushing on it. He didn’t quite know what Five was capable of now, but as kids he was still ruthless on missions, and in the cockiest way possible, confidently getting the enemies to accidentally shoot eachother or in one case when everyone was clear, but without approval, intentionally starting a landslide. Provided he had enough energy, Five could screw you over in seconds, Klaus knew that much.

By the time they reached the threshold, multiple members of the cult had touched them, reverently or otherwise. It was uncomfortable to say the least.

“Next time you manage to make a group of people this pervy, warn us,” Allison scoffed.

“Yes, some may be pervy and sexual, but this is a safe haven for those not within the norm for the 1960’s. It’s a break from societal pressures and we’re free to be free.”

“Klaus, I know you’re not the straightest needle in a haystack but you know that’s not an excuse for _this_ ,” Five muttered, waving his arms around. “I mean, at least you _should._ ”

Done with pulling themselves away from every grasping hand and the general type of attention they were getting, Allison said, _“I heard a rumor_ that you left us alone.”

Many pairs of eyes glazed over and the cult seemed to forget they existed. Glancing around, they seemed to forget why they were even there, and started going about the rest of their business. It was a temporary solution, but an easy one, and it wouldn’t need to hold for very long.

Five jumped straight to the car and started the engine. It sputtered before finally turning into a low humming growl. Allison dragged Ray away from the house, and the Doctor did the same with Klaus. As they shoved themselves into seats and swung the doors closed, Five hit the gas and set off as quickly as he could. He really wished they wouldn’t have to go there, but they did, and it was making him shiver with disgust.

 _“So are you going to translate for me for once?”_ Ben’s spectre gently caressing Klaus’ feet as he lay on the floor.

“I don’t know, maybe…”

_“Maybe, maybe?! We haven’t seen them for three years! It would at least be nice to talk to the others.”_

“God I hate you…”

 _“The feeling’s mutual,”_ he grumbled. _“The family really did come here to clean up your mess, huh?”_

“Oh, come on. It’s not like it’s _that_ bad.”

_“Not that bad. Not that bad? They were talking about disrupting the timeline, that’s all you’ve been doing since we got here. Including-”_

“Don’t bring Dave into this.”

_“Oh I will. I will, Klaus.”_

“Just be quiet.”

Unfortunately, nobody really noticed the conversation in progress. The ones who knew about his power thought he was still high, while those who didn’t simply thought he was talking to himself. It was a strange car ride, but at least not nearly as stressful of one as the night before.


	21. Tacos?

Ace was lazing on the couch with Vanya. She had wanted to return to the farm, but as the group was short a car things weren’t going to be easy. So instead of working with Harlan and getting close with Sissy again as she desperately wanted- a kiss still lingering on her lips from days before, she was stuck playing cards with the stranger. Luther was luckily out with Elliot, and Diego had been brought back inside. He was stuck in bed, but at least not in a place where he’d be stupid enough to get up and get lost, never to be seen again.

“Go fish…” Vanya muttered.

Ace perked up. Something was close. Long suppressed instincts in her brain tried to kick in, but her body said no, it couldn’t handle that anymore. Instead, a different feeling broke from the chains. She got up from the sofa and cautiously approached the stairwells. Vanya followed, concerned.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“There’s _something_ getting closer.”

“How do you know?”

Before she could even attempt to answer, the women heard muffled banter and the other group came through the door. “Hello Ace!” the Doctor shouted. She jittered in surprise at the loud noise.

Klaus and Allison came through after him, then Ray and Five. “Vanny!” Klaus greeted, running upstairs to give her a hug. Allison piled on, and Ace smiled at the reunion.

Ace’s uneasiness only grew as Klaus approached. He seemed nice enough, but something was off. Not in the usual sense of people she met, but it felt like something was... with him, if that made any sense. It was a familiar type of presence, kicking on the psychic sense she first experienced at the age of fifteen, but much less sad, and definitely not evil. It was tied to him strongly. Regardless, it was starting to give her a headache, and other people would know about it, real or not.

“Is this one Klaus?” she yelled down to Five.

“Yes, in fact.”

“Isn’t he the one who can talk to ghosts?”

“Yeah. By the way, is Ben here?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, ghosts can’t time travel,” Klaus felt a pang of guilt at saying that, but kept it up.

Ben gestured in frustration. Ace felt it radiating off of an area near Klaus, a place that had been filled with silent contentment before. Five looked at both of them, and for just a second Ben seemed to forget that he wasn’t being seen.

“I think he's lying. I think that’s bull,” she said.

“How would you know?” Five asked.

“I can… feel things,” she shrugged.

Five didn’t think it was true, but he asked Klaus this anyway. “Is there at least _a_ ghost here?”

“Yeah. He’s really ugly and rude,” he bit back.

He glanced over at Ace so she could utter a response. “I don’t know who it is- but the link is really close, the closest I’ve ever felt. Like it’s _bound_ here.”

Still not sure about it, but wanting to see how far Klaus’ powers had gotten since their confrontation at the Icarus, said, “Alright Klaus, then manifest them. Provided you’re clean, anyway.”

He took that as a challenge. Maybe if he proved his (relative) sobriety he’d be taken a little more seriously. Klaus simply said, “Fine, fine.”

He closed his eyes and balled his fists tight. An ethereal blue glow emitted out of his hands. It looked somewhere in the middle between Five and Vanya activating their powers, the energy soft and magical like Seven’s, rather than electrical and controlling, but a similar shade of blue to his.

Seconds later, they saw a flicker. Leaning on the railing in a black hoodie, holding a book, was Ben. Shining bright like the energy coming from his brother’s fists, he waved a hand.

 _“Hey guys. So will you believe it’s me for once, or will you think Klaus is crazy? Okay, he is crazy, but still. Thanks, weird lady.”_ He blew a raspberry at his brother.

Once again, attention was directed at Ace. “I thought you were lying about that. How the hell did you know?” Five interrogated.

She tried to explain calmly and hide her deep resentment of this ability. “Sometimes, if there’s a lot of thoughts or emotion in a place I can feel it there. Usually they’re bad feelings because it’s mostly happened with areas where a lot of people died. I guess some of it _is_ the actual dead people.”

“You never said you had a power!?” Five protested.

“You never asked! Besides, mine isn’t at all like yours… I mean at least _probably_ ,” she did know the circumstances of the 43 births were unique, but the ones of her bloodline were likely much different. She didn’t think an ancient embodiment of evil caused them to be born and try to turn the world’s population into sea vampires, but who knew?

“That could’ve been important!”

“Really Five, how useful is ‘feeling’ stuff like this anyways? It’s not like I have my cheetah senses anymore,” she remarked, waving her hands around.

“Your what?!” he exclaimed. Running his fingers through his hair, Five was just about as confused as everyone else, which he hated. A smirk curled onto the Doctor’s lips.

“I’ll explain later,” the Doctor interrupted, a line common in his arsenal. “Now, let’s get down to business."

Five agreed, obtaining his composure and saying, "First of all, I want to tell you that I'm sorry about the whole being stranded in time thing. I know some of you have been here a while and I know what that's like. However, second of all my new friend the Doc here has a solution. If you don't already know he has a giant time machine that can get us home. But we have to stay for a few days."

"All of this going on, I know what we need to do," Diego said.

"Find dad," suggested Five.

"Kill dad," ordered Diego.

They all looked over at Diego. Not one of the reactions was positive. 

"I knew were a dimwit, but the basic principle of the Grandfather Paradox is so simple that even someone with the mental capacity of mashed potatoes should get it. Dad has to live and Kennedy has to die!"

"We already foiled the plot. I'm not killing the president. I'm a hero." Diego spat back

"Well, then today's your lucky day, because it won't be you. And no, you aren't. In this new timeline I'm the triggerman."

"You aren't killing the president!" he shouted.

The Doctor interjected. "I do believe he is. And I'm afraid that it simply would be impossible to stop for someone like you. The timelords would remove you from this era for that. Forcibly. The Web of Time must be preserved, and for that, even if the details change, the result must remain the same."

They both stared Diego down, silently continuing the argument in their heads.

There was a crackle of stray energy. "I can’t keep Ben out like this much longer, so you’re gonna have to hurry it up,” Klaus groaned.

 _“Or I have to speak through Klaus, the oh-so-reliable narrator,”_ Ben snarked. Unfortunately, just then, he felt himself slipping as he faded away again.

“Well, sorry.” Klaus shrugged.

“Where’s Luther?” asked Allison. Five, Ace, and Vanya collectively groaned.

“He’s shopping with Elliot,” Ace answered.

“Great. I thought we’d be together for once. Guess I spoke too soon.”

“Hey, it’s not all bad. We could bond while waiting for him.” Ace lit up, struck by an idea. “We could play UNO! I'd have to get a pack from the TARDIS, but...”

“It won’t be fair, Klaus cheats,” Allison remarked.

“What’s UNO?” Ray asked.

“It’s easy and fun, We’ll show you,” his wife smiled.

Interrupting their conversation and ideas for the perfect way to ruin their already strenuous family dynamic, the bell above the door jingled once again. Luther and Elliot were home, carrying paper grocery bags.

“So, you actually managed to do it, huh?” Luther looked at Five, who then proceeded to flip him off.

Elliot added. “Why don’t we have lunch?" The group nodded, all extremely hungry. “Since you guys are all here, you’ll be able to try my new jell-o recipe!” he set the shopping bags down, took a couple things out of them, and sprinted upstairs towards the refrigerator.

He took out cottage cheese, slices of orange, and hot dogs. Cutting up the hot dogs, he stirred them all into orange jell-o. Putting the substance in glass dishes, he proceeded to distribute them. Many of the siblings' faces turned green or they stuck their tongues out. 

“This stuff is the real ambrosia of our time,” he smiled, not a hint of cynicism or sarcasm on his face, despite the obvious lack of appetite the rest of the group now had.

Reluctantly taking a bite, Ace immediately spat it out and pushed it away, “Ugh, I can’t believe people in this era actually thought this stuff was even _food_ \- I’m gonna go wash my mouth out. With soap,” she got up and walked towards the bathroom, evidently not joking.

Five wasn’t eating anything. In his mind, a shower and good meal together in one day was more than enough in terms of self-care. So, with the Doctor he was rewriting his equations.

“For this to work and us to use the same language for this, you’ll need to convert to base 13.”

“Why the hell would I do that? You know how much more annoying that makes it to calculate?” Five responded.

“It makes it harder, but also more applicable, and likely more accurate. Because of the way timelords have shaped the space-time continuum, the vortex itself makes their existing mathematics principles even stronger. Their interaction created a feedback loop. And in case I didn’t make it clear, they use base 13, because of how many different incarnations it is typically possible for an Academy graduate to have.” the man explained.

“How likely do you think it would be for me to finish this in less than five days? I mean, unless we plan to steal the book from my past self and take it out of that timeline, that is.”

“You possibly might not have to do either. As long as you understand the basics of Gallifreyan temporal theory you may not even have to do the work, just interpret it,” he pointed over to the values he himself had been working on. There was a mix of typical Earth mathematical symbols, but also alien looking numbers and arranged neatly under that, were neat patterns of concentric circles.

“And how exactly would that work?”

“My TARDIS can perform the calculations, but you must be the one to create the time corridor. And it has to make that intentional mistake, unfortunately.”

Five grimace before nodding at that and scrawled down more notes- as well as trying to interpret the Doctor's, but was distracted by Luther, who had been sitting in one of the chairs.

“Will you tell us _anything_ about the end of the world or do you just want us sitting here getting nothing done?”

“Well you can sit around all you like but currently I _am_ working, in case your monkey brain hasn’t noticed. You need to stay here so we can save the world.”

The Doctor didn’t so much as look up, but he did nod at the sentiment. More scratching could be heard from his notepad, and occasional ‘hmm’s and ‘ahh’s.

“Well, I’m out,” the giant answered, getting up and moving away, going towards the entrance. Just as he got to the stairs, there was a flash and the smell of batteries as Five appeared before him.

“You came into this despite my warnings. You aren’t bailing on us now. The Umbrella Academy needs you, whether I hate you or not. You have to play your part in this, Number 1, unless you want everything you put all of us through to be all for nothing. If you do leave you’re an imbecilic-” but Five was cut off before being able to finish an insult-ridden sentence likely to contain several threats, swears, and emotional as well as probable physical kicks to the groin- by Luther, who had picked him up with one hand and threw him down the stairs. Warping away in midair just in time, nobody knew where Five went.

Looking over his horrible 1960’s jell-o concoction, and seeing that Ace was back- definitely with soap in her mouth, Klaus glanced up and spoke to the girls. “Anyone for tacos?”


	22. So Long and No Thanks For the Fish

Five collapsed against a building. The inertia from starting the leap made him dizzy and unable to concentrate an exact coordinate while in the spaces between, causing him to just keep falling through things until he could pull himself out. At least while there he was unaffected by gravity and just nudged himself off of the trajectory from which he was thrown, otherwise the experience would have been much more painful.

“When did the monkey learn how to fight dirty?”

Dusting himself off, he saw the TARDIS and realized he was back in the alleyway. A darker shadow was cast upon him and he looked up to see a woman standing over him from the neighboring roof.

 _‘Her again,’_ he thought.

Lila.

She ran away. Five knew she was baiting him, but he could get out of it. Even if he _somehow_ didn’t end up coming back, one thing he admitted about Diego and Luther was that they spent hours looking for him when he was drunk. If he was ever in any real danger, the two would show up even if they didn’t want to. And despite his brother’s massive incompetence, the new guys were already proving quite reliable- and if Vanya helped out too…

He had _nothing_ to worry about when he went running after her towards a warehouse. Unbeknownst to him, all of his backup was already gone, and he’d already forgotten how much he’d been hurt the night before. Even with his extreme level of skill, this wouldn’t be a fair fight.

The boy pursued her until he reached the door. Jumping through it, he finally met her face to face. He gave her a devilish smile.

* * *

“Hey, what’s your game, crazy lady?”

“Who cares? You decided that your brother had to threaten to kill me if I saw you again,” Lila chuckled sarcastically before frowning. “Coward.”

“It wasn’t a threat from him, it was a warning. 

“Well, come on big talker," she taunted.

“Let’s get this done.” he balled up his fists.

“Alright.”

He blinked away as she tried to strike. She felt the sparks tickling her fingertips as the fist fell apart.

Getting behind her, Five gave Lila a swift kick to the abdomen. She grunted before attempting the same, but just barely missed. This was personal, and neither was afraid of fighting dirty to get the upper hand.

Blow after blow, block after block- the fight was fast, coursing with raw emotion and energy. Sloppy as it seemed, they were giving it their all. To avoid a punch to the chest Five jumped about ten feet away, only to not see her as he looked back that direction.

She was instead ten feet behind _him._ How could she be faster? Probably the work of those above her, but he didn’t know, and right now he didn’t care.

“I’m waiting…” she whispered.

Charging at her, again she was gone like dust in the wind. He saw her again, hovering close, but not close enough for either to land a strike. Instead of going straight for her, he picked up a heavy pipe likely made of lead.

Jumping towards her, she was still missing. He swore he saw her in the corner of his eye about to get behind him, and he almost collapsed as she pounced on him as she once again opened fresh wounds. It seems they were ready-made for her.

But as he fell to the ground he made one last, very short jump. The air crackled with electricity as he swung his foot around like a saw blade and got her off of her feet. He pinned her down like a predator over its prey, and his foot slowly descended on her neck, the pressure gradually building.

“You’re better than I thought-” Lila gasped.

“And you were entirely average,” Five boasted.

“You can come out now!” he shouted. Five knew why they were in this conspicuously empty warehouse. His former employer was here, and she’d be pissed at him.

But it didn’t matter. As she emerged from the shadows, his gaze turned from glee at the successful near-kill to pure acid. To the Handler, he was a venomous snake. A strong ally if she could ‘handle’ him, but a huge threat if she couldn’t. And he knew well which camp she was in right now.

And it seemed that they were alone.

“Well done. You figured it out,” the Handler responded.

“Well, it wasn’t very hard.” Five’s mind drifted back to the night before, remembering what happened. Her skill, the explosion- he shook himself away from falling back into that world. “She fights like every one of you Commission drones.”

“Hmm…” she simply answered. “No matter, here we are. Together again. But Five, I have a question for you-” she paused. “Did you miss me you li’l shit?”

Five shrugged. “It’s been a very pleasant few days without you around.”

Lila laughed, choking as his shoe resisted her breath more and more. The boy looked down at her, eyes sharp.

“You’ve got a good nose,” the woman smiled.

“You know, planting her in a psych ward- taking advantage of my simpleton brother. That was smart.”

“You’re too kind. Well... The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Lila choked again. Her protests were getting quieter as she slowly got closer to running out of air.

He asked “She’s your-” but she interrupted, “Daughter. Yes. And she’s my only one, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t crush her windpipe.”

“Well, that changes things,” he smirked. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh? Well, she's made the same mistakes as you too, lady. None of what she's done has made any sense. An Indian-British woman moving to one of the most notoriously racist states in America? That was a painfully noticeable clue, and not the only one. Even if she was mentally ill, she wouldn't be _that_ much of an idiot."

With Five’s current mood, and use of her as a potential bargaining chip, the pressure of his foot on her neck only increased as it crushed her, and she squirmed underneath him. Instead of shooing her away, he decided to wait for the girl to pass out. 

The choking stopped and Lila’s eyes fluttered closed as she went limp. He took his shoe off of her neck and moved it to her chest, lessening the pressure.

“What is it you want?” he asked her.

Her answer was vague and unclear. “You like jazz, Five?”

He did in fact enjoy it on occasion, but he wouldn’t let the Handler get underneath his skin. “I’d rather blast Caramelldansen on loop for a week straight.”

“Aww, the senior assassin in tight shorts has no taste. Jazz is like a beautiful woman. Complex, emotional, hard to please. She doesn’t just give it to you. She makes you work for it.” The Handler got a good look at Five. “But you wouldn’t know that, would you?”

Five’s face contorted with disgust. Whether his body was thirteen or not, he never liked it when the Handler acted this way towards him. He never liked her in the first place. She treated him like her creature, her prize. He was owned by nobody, especially not her. It only made him more uncomfortable. “I really hope you’re going somewhere with this…”

She whispered, “Under my leadership, the Commission would sound more like- jazz.”

He knew where this was going. “And what about the board of directors?”

“Well that’s where you come in.”

He turned his back to her. “Nope. No it isn’t.”

She thought she had all the aces in the deck, “In exchange for assassination of the board I’m willing to get you and your family out of this timeline and back to 2019 where you belong.”

“I’m not saying how, but I already have a way out. I’m staying because of World War III, the one that’s due to kick off in a few days. I don’t think you have any chips on the table, my friend.” It turned out that he had kings.

“Once you and your siblings are gone, that goes away. Staying only makes it worse.” she smiled.

“And the apocalypse in 2019?” he asked, curious.

“That too,” she took a hit of her fancy cigarette.

“I distinctly remember you telling me that it had to happen. That it was _supposed_ to happen,” he glared.

“I have something that may interest you.” She took out a manila folder and let Five open it for himself.

“It appears the reason they want to protect it so much is that AJ over here really wants to exist. The apocalypse is how he evolves. How he mutates to become sentient.”

He looked it over. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. Over and over. All those deaths for one fucking _fish?_ The file had pictures of him, DNA studies, and more. The new climate and levels of radioactivity let a tiny goldfish get super-intelligence. Oh how ironic.

“And you never told me this _before?!”_ he shouted, exasperated at her claims.

“Well, I was just toeing the company line. But… When I’m in charge, we can riff.”

“Jazz.” he responded.

“Exactly.”

“What about the board of directors, hmm? I mean, nobody knows who they are,” he asked, intrigued at the offer now.

“Correct. But…” she trailed off, “Once every fiscal quarter they get together for a board meeting.”

“Where?” he shrugged.

“The question is when. They meet somewhere in the timeline but never in the same place twice. The exact location and date of these meetings is the most closely guarded secret in the Commission.”

“But you know where it is, don’t you?”

“Would I be any good if I didn’t?” she smiled.

“You’re never any good. And I need some time to think about it. Or I could just finish off your daughter. I'm sure you'd be less inclined to backstab me if I stay right where I am.”

“Alright, sure. But doomsday’s right around the corner, and with how things are going, I’m your final option. The consulate is only one piece of the damage you’ve done. You need to plot your next moves carefully, Five.”

“Not yet. I have some ideas, and you’re my final, final resort," he sighed. "And if I do, it's not for you. It's because of what that pussy AJ is doing to save his own skin. I'm not leaving until the 22nd anyway. I'm making sure _myself_ that things wrap up."

"Male fish don't typically have those, but yes. I'm all for it." She handed him a slip of paper, and Five disappeared from the room. Off of Lila, who was finally coming around.

* * *

An accurate teleportation got him right in the middle of the top floor where his family was supposed to be having lunch, or playing UNO, or whatever they could possibly agree to. He looked around- and it was empty. He'd done all this work and all of his family was gone.

 _'Fuck...'_ he whispered.

"Language..." he heard a voice say. It was the Doctor- behind him in an armchair towards the corner of the room. He'd been sitting with a book. A notebook- Five's notes in fact. "The others went out. I'm not sure about Diego and Luther- I never have been. But Ace, Vanya, Allison and Klaus promised to come back after a more... palatable lunch than what Elliot wished to serve. I've been looking at your work again. Forgive me if my corrections are a bit messy."

"And Ray?"

"He's still in, but he's with Elliot and asked not to be disturbed. For most humans this information is a lot to process. Have a look at this," the Doctor passed Five's notes over.

He wasn't used to being just described as 'human' but it made enough sense. And the 'corrections' were in red ink. Some of it he could easily understand, things he learned as a toddler, or at least using symbols Five had known as long as he could remember- then after that things got weird. Overlapping concentric circles, connecting lines, crescents, and more. He had no clue what it meant, and there wasn't a pattern recognizable to him.

The Doctor noticed his expression and looked again. "Oh- how foolish of me. I _was_ doing spacial-temporal algebra. It seems I went a bit too far into it and fell into high gallifreyan. The more basic of our formulas are similar to Earth's- I did accidentally bring it over here after all. But the other- our language is transcribed through these special mathematics- it's essentially a trans-dimensional version of computer code. It's not really words as most people would think of them. To you they wouldn't even translate."

Five inched over and sat on the arm of the chair.

"Not if you won't teach me," he answered.

The Doctor gave a triumphant laugh. "I was hoping to hear you say that!"

He pointed to a 'word' and said it out loud. It didn't translate or even sound real. But Five did his best to repeat it, and for once, learning something seemed like it could be fun.


	23. Ace of Spaaaa-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's an update! And the drunk parlor scene too... getting derailed by a VERY drunk Ace and mentions of two characters coincidentally both played by Lisa Bowerman. Huh. She does get around the Whoniverse I suppose.

“Oh, god, you three. This stuff’s _strong…_ ‘Minds me of when I had drinking contests with Benny… That girl had _con-con-consi-tution..._ ” Ace sighed, slurring. To be fair to the whiskey in her hand, she’d already downed most of the bottle. And in a swift motion, she finished it.

They were in the closed salon after a late lunch. Allison had let the group comprised of her, Ace, Klaus, and Vanya in. Well, more like snuck in. Nobody was supposed to be here this day of the week, but she made an exception for herself. She’d left Ray with the others, so it would be an easy place to find her. Either way, they could get just plastered here without worrying about finding a non-segregated bar to be alone at.

Vanya was getting pretty smashed herself, even after only a few drinks. Of the four of them, she had the lowest tolerance. Probably because she rarely drank in her entire life- the pills she had taken most of it weren’t meant to mix with alcohol, so if she did it was in tiny amounts. She didn’t remember much of that, but Klaus had warned her.

Allison was better off than her, but not by too much. She’d had nights since her first divorce where she’d drank herself to sleep, and sometimes she’d day drink, but it was sporadic. And while obviously that had never been healthy to begin with, she was often shamed for this struggle by her modeling gigs and directors, so before she got with Ray it was spiraling.

Klaus would have beaten them out in terms of quantity if he hadn’t been clean for nearly three years. He had it here and there, but he was taking it slow, and was probably doing the best. Ace definitely _would_ have been if she hadn’t been chugging the stuff like it was the end of the world. Well, it technically _was_ \- but that was besides the point.

“So, Ally- how’s your marriage?” he said.

Vanya was distracted, playfully aiming finger guns at the many empty bottles. If she wanted to, they could easily be blown to pieces. But she was just in the mood to pretend. Or maybe she couldn't. Last time she used her powers aim wasn’t the most precise.

“A bit strained right now, not gonna lie. If we can’t save the world I’d at least like to save _that,”_ Allison answered, resting her head in her hands.

“Is the world _really_ gonna end? I mean I-I’ve been told that so many times. Never happened _once,”_ Ace remarked. “Hun-reds of times. Nev*hic*er once.”

“I’d still like to fix my relationship. He pr-promised not to freak out when I introduced him to you. But as soon as you suggest playing UNO he runs away…” Allisone groaned. “Powers, the end of the world, and it- iz UNO…”

“It’s not my fault! He reacted worse than _Hex_ when I told him… told him ‘bout the alien thing,” Ace revealed.

“Alien thing?!” Allison shouted.

“Right… Hadn’t told you that bit yet…” she muttered.

“Wouldn’t it be weird if Five grew up all hot?” Klaus blurted out.

“Blehh-” Ace scrunched her nose, like she’d smelled something rotten. She’d never known Five as anything other than the 60-year-old inside a child. It was like suggesting _the Doctor_ was attractive. Nobody should even _imagine_ that.

“Oh. Eww. Eww! Nope-” Allison dismissed.

“Oh please, Miss ‘Luther was my lover…” he giggled.

Unaware of it, Vanya made a rather unpleasant face, while Ace just shouted, _“What?!”_

“We’ve never even kissed,” Allison shot back.

“Yeah but you think we didn’t see those dewey eyes during dinner and breakfasts and puberty and all that,” Klaus mocked.=

Vanya caught up a bit more. “Aren’t we all like- brothers and sisters…?”

Allison tried to dismiss it, “Well, I mean technically- it...”

“‘Technically?’ If you have to use the word ‘technically,’ you’re already in trouble,” he answered.

“Ya could say that again! I thought I had a boatload of issues-ss… You’ve got a damn plane!” Ace joked, giggling.

Another drink, another step closer to blacking out. Allison tried to hasten them away from that conversation, “Okay, can... can we focus? I mean, clearly we're not saving the world tonight, but maybe, maybe, we could at least try to save my marriage.”

“No. _No._ That’s-that’s like asking a nun how to hump a leg…” Klaus muttered, leaning over a countertop for some support. His remark was rewarded with a number of confused expressions and raised eyebrows. “I mean who here knows shit about relationships? This one? Secret love with some farm frau,” he waved his arm vaguely at Vanya.

“Her name’s Sissy…” Vanya muttered.

“I mean, it’s an improvement on your previous love interest, the serial killer,” he remarked.

“What?!” she cringed.

Ace tried to give them the best advice she could, but her drunkenness was making her even bolder than she considered healthy, so she loudly rambled a sentiment that nobody but her would even come close to understanding. “Do-don’t fall in love with an in-intell’gent cheetah. Their planet explodes and they turn back to a human then everything goes all pears, yeah?”

“I mean we had a monkey…” Allison narrowed her eyes.

“But monkeys aren’t hot!” she retorted.

“Okay, so Ace is a furry,” Klaus concluded.

Ace got up and stole his beer in response, chugging it down with more confidence than anyone of her size would be expected. He reacted in anger, but couldn’t get it away from the still much more physically strong woman.

“Oh man…” he moaned.

“Aliens can be sexy too. Karra was prettier than you'll ever be. So call me a furry again, huh? _Bitch-_ ” a middle finger rose up, directed at him.

“Woah woah woah. Chill…” he ushered calm.

In response to this bit instead of shouting and insisting that she was plenty calm, Ace collapsed on the floor, blacking out.

“Great. Unconscious stranger on the floor. Who’s gonna carry her home?” Allison groaned.

“That’s future Klaus’ problem, just shove her away from the window, Ally. Let’s keep on goin’!”

As she did so, Vanya was pulling out her finger guns once more. “Pew pew, pew…” she whispered. There was a spray of glass as the bottles she pointed her fingers at exploded violently.

“Okay Vanny. You’ve had enough,” Klaus responded.

"But that's Future Klaus’ problem?”

“But that's Future Klaus’ problem.”


	24. Braids of Memory

Yet again, Diego and Luther were the first to abandon Five, and had been long gone by the time he got back from the warehouse. It was how things always seemed to turn out for the Number 1 and Number 2, respectively. They tried to prove themselves best of the team, leader, or whatever prize was there at the time. Then they’d go their own way and split from the rest of the group in some way or another. Completely useless, Five thought. They weren’t _truly_ useless per se, but it was an adequate assessment of their consistency, if you didn’t count their effectiveness.

He knew the others were returning, the Doctor had told him that much when he got back from his ‘expedition,’ but when exactly was a mystery. Then they came back, excluding Vanya. The bell above the door rang loud and clear, and the three stumbled through the door, an unconscious Ace slung over Klaus and Allison’s shoulder.

“Where’s Vanya? And what happened to you?” he teleported right in front of them, startled them into dropping the woman they were carrying.

“She’s gone. Went back to the farm to confess her love to that girl…” Klaus responded, slurring and waving his hands around as if it were the most obvious choice in the world.

“At least I have you two. That’s more than I could say last time,” he snarked.

The Doctor looked over the ledge. He looked… unamused.

“Exactly why is my friend asleep on the floor?” he ran towards Ace, looking for any injuries from where they dropped her.

“Let’s just say we skipped out on those tacos,” Allison giggled awkwardly.

Simple deductive reasoning gave the Doctor his answer. “You were drinking, weren’t you?”

They both nodded and bowed their heads like naughty schoolchildren. Five wandered off

“Did she say anything? If she had enough to black out she had enough to tell things we’d rather others don’t know. She must have snuck out with you because she knows I don’t approve.”

“Only that she’s a furry…” Klaus laughed and shrugged, adding, “Oh, and she called me a bitch.”

“Of course she did,” he said dryly and rolled his eyes. “Well, get her onto a sofa. I’ll whip up some coffee and a hangover cure. Put her on the one over there. Get her comfortable, she’s going to get some talking to when she wakes up.”

“By the way, where did Ray go?” Allison asked.

“He didn’t want to be involved. And honestly, I don’t blame him. He’s not one of you, so Five let him go.”

“I don’t even get to apologize?!” she grunted.

“You don’t seem particularly apologetic…” the Doctor tsked. “Now, leave me alone while I tend to Ace. Five will say when I want to see you.”

* * *

Vanya had promised she’d be back, before they went off. But they didn’t expect it after how the conversation turned. But when she came back crying and leaning on Klaus’ shoulder after Five politely refused, nobody really knew what to do. It was like Vanya, but not _this_ Vanya. She wasn’t completely different, but this didn’t seem to fit how she’d been acting before. She was off her pills and headstrong, not afraid of much. She’d saved several of them while the group was in disarray. And she was willing to go out drinking- what of her true, uncut personality felt this way? 

“Vanny, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Klaus reassured. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s not, Klaus! I want to talk to Five-” she sobbed.

“Vanny…” and things seemed to fall apart.

* * *

_She was sitting in somebody’s bedroom, looking down at a tiny pair of hands, in a sweet little pleated skirt, damp with something. There were still tears in her eyes._ Why? _Writing was on the walls. She didn’t know who by, but it wasn’t Five’s room- it was in the same place though. The mansion! And the room… stank? Like a skunk walked through._

_Vanya felt a hand graze her shoulder and a flash of pain in her scalp._

_“Agh!” she squealed._

_“Sorry, sorry. Shh… Mom will hear,” she heard a high voice say. Klaus._

_At first she thought the tugging was mean. She had been informed on multiple occasions how awful her family had been in the past. But she realized- he was braiding her hair._

_“I know it’s hard, Vanny. I miss Five too. I don’t understand him very well, not as well as you or Ben did- but we were friends. The misfits of the family- but… No. He’ll be back. He promised. We’ll see Five again,” he was crying too, there was a quiver in his voice._

_He let go of the tight pigtail and finished it with a hair tie. From behind, his weight fell onto her as they wrapped together into an awkward hug._

_Three misfits left- for now anyway._

* * *

Vanya gripped Klaus tighter than she ever had, eyes opened from the waking dream.

“Nevermind, Klaus. You always had my back after it happened. I’m sorry...”

“Vanny… Don’t apologize. If you think I wasn’t still shit to you I don’t know what to think.”

There was a crackle and a flash of blue as Five fell right behind them. “Is the sob session done yet?” he sighed. After seeing her reaction, he backed off though, realizing his detachment. “Sorry, sorry. Feelings are important. _Yours_ anyway, Vanya. What happened? Did someone hurt you?” he gave a look of serious concern, falling back out of the rhythm of shouting and swearing and murder.

Vanya wiped her face across her sleeve to hopefully clear it, but Five brought her a tissue box anyway. “It’s okay. I think I’m done now. No big deal.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Five urged, rather hypocritically, after having said several lies in the past half hour.

“It’s the 60’s, okay! They hate people like me-” she confessed.

“Oh, if it was that easy you should come over to see my cult. A gay ol’ time,” Klaus joked.

“Not the time… Like what?” Five discretely kicked Klaus in the shins.

"That woman I was calling?"

"Oh, okay," he understood. “I came here because the Doctor told me you should go to the TARDIS, but I'll stay here with Vanya. The Doctor wants to see all of you there since Ace is recovering from ‘lunch.’ Allison!" he shouted up the stairs, "And Klaus, it’s the box in the alleyway. Just knock. Now kindly- fuck off.”

Five shoved them out the door and walked Vanya over to the sofa where Ace had been sleeping, before getting moved. As happened sometimes when they were children- _really_ children, they started drifting off right next to each other.

But as the door swung shut, a car drove up and parked outside...


End file.
